David Llewellyn - 9000 Miles In An Aeronca C3

In February 1936, David Llewellyn flew an Aeronca C3 from London to Johannesburg. This is my attempt to bring the story to life, filmed during 2022.
With thanks to:
John Illsley
Sandy Sproule
David Llewellyn (grandson)
Ms. SE Pretorius-Nel
Zebedee Chittenden (a future Grammy and BAFTA nominee)
Bryony from the St. Austell Printing Company
Music: 'Big Sky' by Hans Zimmer
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[@davidheal4623]

Incredible achievement -- nicely presented by you -- so happy his aircraft survives.

[@glennlaurents9439]

Truly amazing, a history and a tribute, many thanks from an old Aeronca Champ fan....

[@normanfawley7379]

What a bloke ! And what a tale ! Brilliant.As is your Spiffing Aeronca !

[@Volksplane1]

Love the Dads Army arrow, the sand and the cotton wool, very creative.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Thank you, I had a lot of fun making that film!

[@paulslevinsky580]

Gapping the rings with a nail file. Classic. Truly a man of immense resourcefulness. He lived in an era when the world was still large enough for adventure.

[@petergregorypottery5476]

Wonderful story of a brave and adventurous aviator! I also really enjoyed the animated maps, with the cotton wool clouds. Thank you for putting this documentary together, and the many hours of work that must have gone into it! Lovely that his aircraft survives and looks to be beautifully restored.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

It was a lot of work, of the most enjoyable kind. Llewellyn deserves to be remembered.

[@chriskiwi2601]

Extremely interesting. Thanks for putting it up. Cheers from New Zealand.

[@paulmears5330]

He may not have been particularly lucky, but he was certainly persistent and brave!

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Llewellyn was known as 'the unlucky airman'; several times he came within an inch of capturing a record or a prize, only to be thwarted.

[@paulhough5941]

Absolutely rivetting viewing! I’d not heard of Llewelyn’s epic flight before for some reason. I admire his bravery and ingenuity. The circlip episode could’ve turned into an unpleasant ending. Thank you for some wonderful videos. Beats TV any day!

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Yes; a truly lost circlip meant supper for the hyenas.

[@nevillesutherland6069]

I keep coming back to this account, continually amazed at the courage and resourcefulness displayed by David Llewellyn. What an aviator! Imagine navigating the length of Africa with questionable maps, a compass and little else. Even getting to Italy deserves a "well done David" but to then push off across the Med.... hells bells, this man had courage! More tale like this one Nicholas will be avidly absorbed. Thank you muchly!

[@ralphjohnson4041]

What a great story. The C3 must have been decidedly second hand by the time it got there though!

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Yes, it had quite a journey and must have been pretty grubby by the time it got to Johannesburg. The exhaust valve guides are not well lubricated and don't last too long either. Johannesburg is 5000 feet above sea level and I can't help but think the aircraft was fairly marginal there. It's a poor training aircraft in ISA conditions.

[@TheRidders]

Thank you, very enjoyable.

[@paulcaine1547]

Fascinating, thank you.

[@PDZ1122]

Oh, to have a time machine.... You just can't have adventure like this anymore. Anywhere.

[@steamtothewest-trecanrail]

Fantastic

[@jetpylot7523]

Amazing story ! Flying was so different back then .

[@PRH123]

Wow, had no idea a C3 was capable of such flights. Not just a cross country, but cross continents. Amazing aircraft. Amazing engine...!

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

The Aeronca C3 is quite a practical aeroplane. It’s far more capable than it might appear, and an astonishingly good performer on 36 horsepower.

[@loomisgruntfuttock]

What a wonderful film!

[@arimington-is7gv]

Another cracking video! Love the ‘bugger’ and ‘goodbye / hello darling’ voice overs, made me giggle. The reference to the Currie Wot got my attention, I flew one only once as a young aircraft engineer working for small company, the aircraft was sold by a chap who lived local to me near Chester and I flew it for him to Shobdon and to its new owner Hamish Moffat (a Bugatti collector). Great memories 👍

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

I bought the Wot from Hamish! It’s now being rebuild by a chap near Swindon who bought it from me in 2006. Of course, the prototype Wot had a JAP engine and it’s my eventual aim to build a lightweight version with a JAP to comply with the SSDR microlight criteria. My only regret in that film is that I should have bought a solar topee for the ‘jungle’ scene 🙂

[@chairintheair4322]

Outstanding video; outstanding aviation history - held in silence until now... Unwraps this undiscovered pioneer airman; a truly outstanding pilot in his own right. Performed in his tiny 1930’s Aeronca, in equal measures OUTSTANDING, unchallenged. THANK YOU. Looking forward to your “follow up video!” More on Lewellyn please.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Thank you 🙂

[@leviercosmicwind]

Rather less far, but he got a badge for his trouble, from a ULAA newsletter in 1950: 'The Chairman announced with pleasure that the Association 's Gold Badge for the year 1949 had been awarded lo Mr. Peter Gooch for his outstanding flight in his " 36 H P Aeronca" on the occasion o! the Spanish Air Rally. Carrying a passenger, luggage and an over-load fuel tank, he completed the mountainous course without incident, and did much to arouse interest ln the ultra light cause." I wonder which one that was?

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

It was an Aeronca 100, G-AEWU. An account was published in a 1949 issue of 'The Sailplane'. The overload fuel tank was a copy of that fitted to G-AEWV by John Sproule; made from two jerrycans with their bottoms cut off and welded back to back, it was positioned on the seat pan, sat upon and the fuel transferred to the main tank by air pressure from a pump!

[@wesleycardinal8869]

Great story - I hadn't heard of him before.

[@1944Devon]

Another utterly fascinating story, very well told and performed. I can't have enough of Trecanair; more please, very soon. Devon 1944 (More interesting for me as my father travelled in some luxury and great safety by BOAC Solent flying boat from what was in the late 1940s Southern Rhodesia, after completing temporary work near Salisbury and a few miles from Victoria Falls. His similar route to Southampton also followed the Nile, on which the flying boat landed a couple of times. Astonishing that David Llewellyn completed his longer and very risky journey in a C3 Aeronca, with great aplomb! I still have my Dad's very tongue in cheek certificate, from the "Winged Order of Line Shooters" dated 17/8/1949, signed by the Captain of the "City of Belfast" to prove he crossed the Equator. The fare was all of £74. 😉)

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

What a wonderful story about your father 🙂 and thank you for your kind comments about the film and channel. The films take a lot of effort (of the very enjoyable sort), I dreamt up recreating the Llewellyn adventure after making the film about (not) flying to Malta. The key to success were the maps; they came from a dog-eared 1936 atlas that happened to be in the shed under a box of lawnmower spares. The St. Austell Printing Company carefully photographed and enlarged the images for a miserly sum and I got to work. The jungle scene was filmed in September, other flying parts more recently. More soon!

[@davebergie]

This is my new favourite channel.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

You are very kind. This is primarily a history channel; history has always been my favourite subject and KZbin allows me to indulge most agreeably.

[@danhubert-hx4ss]

Great vid, great editing.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

Thank you 🙂

[@JamesGood]

A great story, nicely told. Thank you! Amazing, changing those pistons in the field, and managing all that navigation with just a compass (compared to what we have today).

[@peterlastrucci324]

What a lovely story, my friend John Illsley restored and owns this beautiful little aeroplane, now based in the Cape.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

@@peterlastrucci324 I've known John for the past 30 years.

[@stewartw.9151]

Greetings from South Africa! Wonderful story of a brave and determined man. I thought when I began watching, that this must be John Ilsley's machine these days, and I know he spent years to rebuild it to it's perfect condition today. He did a fine job. Richard Bach in one of his short stories written in the 1970s, recounts an imagined, lyrical flight with David Llewellyn, from an English meadow on a perfect flying day, in the 1930s.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

I think the imagined flight was with David Garnett? Good all the same.