A Paris-based Kiwi expat is emulating the historic flight by New Zealand aviatrix Jean Batten and offering the chance to fly on an iconic DC3 from England to NZ.
In 1936, at age 27, Jean Batten, from Rotorua, New Zealand, became the first person to fly from England to New Zealand. She made the record-making flight in a Percival D.3 Gull Six single-engine monoplane and landed in Auckland 11 days and 45 minutes after departing Lympne in southeast England, a time that remained the record for many years.
CAPTION: Jean Batten portrait taken on October 16, 1936. (Courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand)
Now, almost exactly 75 years after Batten’s flight, Mark Oremland, who owns South Pacific travel company NZ Voyages, is organising a retracing of her flight – but in a famed DC3. In what he describes as, “the adventure of a life time”, Oremland is organising for the DC3 to depart Lympne on October 29 and land in Auckland three week’s later, flying at an average speed of 150 knots.
The planned route at this stage, subject to technical and political constraints, is a carbon copy of the one Batten took: Lympne – Marseille – Brindisi – Cyprus – H3 landing ground (Syrian Desert) – Basra – Karachi – Allahabad – Akyab – Penang – Singapore – Rambang – Kupang – Darwin – Brunette Downs – Longreach – Charleville – Sydney – Auckland.
“We propose to follow in the steps of this exceptional and mysterious aviatrix in an air cruise adventure of about 21 days on board a mythical plane – one of the 10,655 models built before, during and after WW2: the DC3,” Oremland explains.
“Whilst everyone is trying to reach records of distance and speed, NZ Voyages is organising an extraordinary adventure that aims to slow down the process, reviving the aesthetic and Epicurean aspect of travel while recreating a record achievement of 75 years ago.”
As part of the trip, Oremland is organising visits to aviation museums and meetings with local aviation groups to show off the DC3. The journey will also be filmed for a future DVD.
For more information and to purchase tickets on the DC3 half-circumnavigation click here, but be warned - such an experience doesn’t come cheap.
CAPTION: Jean Batten’s record-breaking Percival P.3 Gull Six G-ADPR, aka ‘Jean’, is now on display at Auckland Airport.