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HERBERT CUKURS' FLIGHT TO GAMBIA



BACKGROUND

Herberts Cukurs
Four centuries ago Jacob, Duke of Courland (now Kurzeme) acquired a colony on the African continent, in current-day Gambia. Attempts to colonize this area failed, and the territory soon became a British colony, then an independent democratic republic. However, the Gambian connection continued to be a romantic/exotic story in Latvian cultural history and, therefore, in the early days of Latvian aviation there were two attempts to fly to Gambia and back.
The first attempt, by N.Pulins and R.Celms in June 1933, failed miserably.
When Pulins' and Celms' attempt failed, but drew such great public attention, Cukurs was persuaded to try it instead. He had been building an aircraft (the C.3) for a flight to Tokyo, Japan but ended up taking that plane to Gambia instead.

ROUTE MAP



   FLIGHT CHRONOLOGY
Date Cities Images
Aug 28 1933 Riga - Danzig - Berlin Riga at departure. Officer in centre is Karlis Konstants, with Cukurs' son Gunars
Aug 29 1933 Berlin Cukurs at Tempelhoff, Berlin
Aug 30 1933 Berlin - Frankfurt - Paris Le Bourget airport, Paris
Aug 31 -
Sep 13 1933		 Paris Le Bourget airport, Paris
Sep 14 1933 Paris - Poitiers spacer
Sep 15 1933 Poitiers - Bordeaux - Toulouse - Perpignan spacer
Sep 16 1933 Perpignan spacer
Sep 17 1933 Perpignan - Perpignan spacer
Sep 18 - 29, 1933 Perpignan - Barcelona Cukurs' Crash near Barcelona
Sep 30 1933 Barcelona - Valencia Cukurs In Barcelona
Oct 1 1933 Valencia - Alicante spacer
Oct 2 - 20, 1933 Alicante Cukurs In Alicante
Oct 21 1933 Alicante - Malaga spacer
Oct 22 1933 Malaga - Tangiers spacer
Oct 23 1933 Tangiers - Casablanca spacer
Oct 24 1933 Casablanca spacer
Oct 25 1933 Casablanca - Cape Juby spacer
Oct 30 1933 Cape Juby - Villa Cisneros - Port Etienne spacer
Oct 31 1933 Port Etienne - Saint Louis spacer
Nov 2 1933 Saint Louis - Dakar spacer
Nov 3 1933 Dakar - Bathurst The Airfield in Bathurst, Gambia
Nov 1 - 9 1933 Bathurst, Gambia The Airfield in Bathurst, Gambia
Nov 9 1933 Bathurst - Dakar spacer
Nov 10 1933
- Feb 7 1934		 Dakar Cukurs and his mechanics/helpers at Dakar
Feb 8 1934 Dakar - Tambakunda spacer
Feb 9 1934 Tambakunda - Kayes - Bamaco spacer
Feb 10 1934 Bamaco - Mopti spacer
Feb 11 1934 Mopti - Hombori Cukurs airplane in Hombori
Feb 12 1934 Hombori - Gao Cukurs and Captain Marie
Feb 12-26 1934 Gao Cukurs at Gao
Feb 27 1934 Gao - Bidon V - Reggane Cukurs at Bidon V
Feb 28 1934 Reggane - Menourar Cukurs at Menourar
March 1, 1934 Menourar - Colomb-Bechar Cukurs Airplane
March 1 - 5, 1934 Colomb-Bechar Cukurs and his aeroplane
March 6, 1934 Colomb-Bechar - Oran spacer
March 7, 1934 Oran - Algiers spacer
March 7-26, 1934 Algiers spacer
March 27, 1934 Algiers - Tunis spacer
April 2, 1934 Tunis - Palermo spacer
April 4, 1934 Tunis - Naples spacer
April 7, 1934 Naples - Rome spacer
April 7 -
May 8, 1934		 Rome De Havilland technicians at Rome
May 9, 1934 Rome - Brignoles Cukurs sightseeing in Rome
May 10, 1934 Brignoles - Marseilles spacer
May 11, 1934 Marseilles - Lyon - Paris spacer
May 15, 1934 Paris - Frankfurt - Erfurt spacer
May 16, 1934 Erfurt - Berlin - Konigsberg spacer
May 17, 1934 Konigsberg - Liepaja spacer
May 25, 1934 Official Reception at Riga Cukurs Returns to Riga




SOURCES
Bruvelis, Edvins Latvijas Aviacijas Vesture
Cukurs, Herberts Mans Lidojums uz Gambiju
Irbitis, Karlis Of Struggle and Flight

Many thanks for additional material provided by R.Cukurs.


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