AIRFARE TO CHARLOTTE

Lonely Planet Brussels Bruges Antwerp and Ghent Encounter

What Will Your Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp & Ghent Encounter Be…

Languidly cycling and cruising along tranquil waterways
Sampling delectable pralines made from exotic teas
Gazing at the North Sea on a coast-hugging tram ride
Picking up an outfit by one of the avant-garde Antwerp Six designers
Ordering a golden ale with a clever clap-of-the-palm hand signal
Enjoying crispy frites, steaming waffles or mulled wine at an open-air market

Discover Twice The City in Half The Time

Full-color pull-out map and detailed neighborhood maps make navigation easy
Our expert author recommends the very best sights, restaurants, shops and entertainment
Unique itineraries to help you make the most out of a short trip
Meet the locals: a sixth-generation waffle baker, a contemporary designer, and a choclatier

The de Havilland DH.88 Comet was a twin-engined British aircraft that won the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, a challenge for which it was specifically designed. It set many aviation records during the race and afterwards as a pioneer mail plane.
Black Magic
First to take off at 6.30 a.m. on October 20 were Jim and Amy Mollison in their own G-ACSP Black Magic. They made a faultless journey to Baghdad, and reached Karachi at around 10 a.m. on the second race day, setting a new England-India record. Problems began for the Mollisons when their landing gear failed to retract, and after returning Karachi for repairs they were again delayed by an inability to navigate at night
Further problems followed when they made an unscheduled refuelling stop at Jobbolpore but found no aviation fuel. Running instead on fuel used by the local bus company, an engine piston seized and an oil line ruptured. They flew on to Allahabad and retired
Grosvenor House
The scarlet G-ACSS was the property of Mr.A.O.Edwards and was named Grosvenor House after the hotel which he managed. The crew were Charles W.Scott and Tom Campbell Black. When the Mollisons ran into problems at Karachi, C.W.A. Scott & Tom Campbell Black took over the lead and were first into Allahabad. Despite a severe storm over the Bay of Bengal they reached Singapore safely, 8 hours ahead of the DC-2.

They took off for Darwin, but over the Timor Sea lost power in the port engine when the oil pressure dropped to zero. Repairs at Darwin got them going again, although continuing oil warnings caused them to fly the last two legs with one engine throttled back. Their lead was unassailable despite this, and after the final mandatory stop and more engine work at Charleville they flew on to cross the finish line at Flemington Racecourse at 3.33 p.m. (local time) on October 23. Their official time was 71 hours 18 seconds.
G-ACSR
The third plane G-ACSR had been paid for by racing driver Bernard Rubin and was flown by Owen Cathcart Jones and Ken Waller. They had to make a second unscheduled stop at Baghdad after they found they had had a serious oil leak. They were forced to delay for repairs which were carried out by T.J.Holmes. They caught up with the Mollisons at Karachi. They were the fourth plane to reach Melbourne, in a time of 108 h 13 min 45 s.
Cathcart Jones and Waller promptly collected film of the Australian stages of the race and set off to carry it back to Britain. Their return time of 13? days set a new record.
G-ACSR, renamed Reine Astrid flew the Christmas mail from Brussels to Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo in 1934.[1] It was then sold to the French government as F-ANPY and set a Croydon-Le Bourget record of 52 minutes on July 5, 1935. It subsequently made Paris–Casablanca and Paris—Algiers high-speed proving flights.
Black Magic was sold to Portugal for a projected flight from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. Reregistered CS-AAJ Salazar it made various flights from London to Lisbon, setting a time of 5 h 17 min in July 1937.
Grosvenor House was later fitted with Gypsy Six series II engines and made several race and record attempts under various names. It claimed fourth place in the 1937 Marseilles-Damascus-Paris race, and later the same year lowered the out-and-home record to the Cape to 15 days 17 hours. In March 1938, Arthur Edmond Clouston and Victor Anthony Ricketts made a return trip to New Zealand covering 26,450 mi (42,5A fourth Comet, F-ANPZ, was built for the French government, with a mail compartment in the nose.

The fifth and last Comet named G-ADEF Boomerang was built for Cyril Nicholson, and piloted by Tom Campbell Black (of Grosvenor House fame) and J.C.McArthur in an attempt on the London-Cape Town record. It reached Cairo in a record 11hr 18 min but the Cape Town attempt was abandoned due to oil trouble.
67 km) in 10 days 21 hours 22 minutes

Grosvenor House has been restored to flying condition as it was in the MacRobertson race, and is housed at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in England.

Black Magic was found in a ruinous condition in Portugal in 1979. It is currently undergoing restoration in Derby, England.

G-ADEF crashed in Sudan September 22, 1935. The crew escaped by parachute.

G-ACSR and F-ANPZ were destroyed in a hangar fire at Istres in France in June, 1940

In Memory of
Flight Sergeant GEORGE THOMPSON
V C
1370700, 9 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died age 24
on 23 January 1945
Son of James and Jessie Thompson, of Glencraig, Fife.

Remembered with honour
BRUSSELS TOWN CEMETERY

The London Gazette of 16th February 1945 gives the following details : Flight Sergeant Thompson was the wireless operator in an aircraft which attacked the Dortmund-Ems Canal by daylight on 1st January, 1945. Just after releasing its bombs, the aircraft was hit by a heavy shell which set it on fire and caused extensive damage. Flight Sergeant Thompson without hesitation went through the fire and exploding ammunition and rescued the gunners from the mid-upper and rear gun-turrets, both of whom were unconscious. With his bare hands he extinguished their burning clothing. He then with great difficulty made his way back through the burning fuselage to report to the captain of the aircraft. He might have devoted his efforts to quelling the fire, but preferred to go through it to save his comrades, hazarding his life. Three weeks later he died of his injuries. One of the gunners he rescued survived; he owes his life to the gallantry of Flight Sergeant Thompson, whose courage and self-sacrifice will ever be an inspiration to the Service.