The VintageAirRally is a vintage airplane rally across thousands of miles of challenging terrain, created by Sam Rutherford. The first VintageAirRally entitled the Crete2Cape was completed on 17 December 2016 with the arrival of about half of the teams in Cape Town, South Africa. The other teams had dropped out due to several crashes and arguments with the organizers about the poor planning. In one episode all the teams were detained in Ethiopia for two days due to missing entry permissions. The aim is to run rallies that are available to all, regardless of nationality, personal circumstances or any other factor.
The Crete2Cape Edition (2016)
The Crete2Cape edition of the VintageAirRally covered the Eastern side of the African continent, traversing Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Botswana, & South Africa. The Rally ran from 12 November 2016 to 17 December 2016 covering over 8,000 miles. After a number of crashes, detained crews and other problems along the route just about half of the airplanes reached South Africa.
The Belgian edition of the VintageAirRally ran around southern Belgium on 20 May 2017. The rally route took in 3 airfields and microlight strips with teams of cars and biplanes in competition. It ran again in Belgium on 16 September 2017, and it is planned to have a third edition in 2018.
The Montreal edition of the VintageAirRally ran on 1 July 2017. The rally route took in several airfields and bush strips around the city.
The Greenland Trophy
Sam Rutherford was the PIC of a Piper Malibu that crashed in Labrador in spring 2018. This happened in poor weather condition with widespread snowstorms. Flying below safe altitude without knowledge of terrain and position the airplane ran into a mountain slope at an altitude of about 2000 ft. Luckily Rutherford survived, but his client was killed in the accident.
This VintageAirRally Beach STOL Competition ran 14–17 June 2018 at Knokke-Heist in Belgium. It has been named the Zoute Air Trophy, and is planned to become an annual event. The beach was converted into an temporary international airport, historically linking back 50 years to Knokke-Zoute Airfield. https://www.hln.be/regio/knokke-heist/wereldprimeur-strand-als-internationale-luchthaven~a7ec3804
The Ushuaia2USA Edition (2018)
The Ushuaia2USA edition of the VintageAirRally will run from the southernmost tip of South America to North America in the last quarter of 2018. Leaving UshuaiaArgentina on 1 November, arriving in United States on 14 December. The route takes in 19 countries in South America and Central America. This will be the first edition of the VintageAirRally where there is no entry fee for the teams - all costs are covered by the sponsors. This will allow access to those to whom previously taking part was impossible.
