VintageAirRally

The Franco-Belgian Team in a Stampe SV4 at Giza Pyramids, VintageAirRally 2016

The Crete2Cape edition of the VintageAirRally covered the Eastern side of the African continent,[2] traversing Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Botswana, & South Africa.[3] The Rally ran from 12 November 2016 to 17 December 2016 covering over 8,000 miles.[4] 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, and it is planned to have a third edition in 2021. The rally route took in 3 airfields and microlight strips with teams of cars and biplanes in competition.

The Montreal edition of the VintageAirRally ran on 1 July 2017. The rally route took in several airfields and bush strips around the city.

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. The official Canadian accident investigation report published in 2020 shows that the hired ferry pilot and PIC on this flight, Sam Rutherford, was responsible for the accident, which was caused by a series of wrong decisions. Moreover the official report states that Sam Rutherford did not hold a valid medical license and no valid FAA pilot license at the time of the accident. [5]

This edition of the VintageAirRally will run 9–12 May 2018. The rally route starts at Dunkerque – Les Moëres Airport and stops at Walmer Aerodrome and Walmer Castle en route for the FINISH at Chilston Park. An Airco DH.9 will be the first aeroplane to land at Walmer Aerodrome since 1919 (the last plane out was a DH9).

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. During the 2018 event several accidents happened due to a failed risk management by the organisers. The beach was converted into an temporary international airport, historically linking back 50 years to Knokke-Zoute Airfield. It has been named the Zoute Air Trophy, and is planned to become an annual event.

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 Ushuaia Argentina 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.

Several of the events listed above did not continue past the planning stage and did not change the accident statistics.