The Last Great Air Race was 12300 miles (19,794.9 km) long, from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 and took place in 1953 after Christchurch took the decision to declare their airport as International in 1950.

Race description

The race was won by Flight Lieutenant

Flight Lieutenant

Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...

 Roland (Monty) Burton

Roland (Monty) Burton

Flight Lieutenant Roland Louise Ernest Burton AFC and Bar Burton was born on May 18, 1918 and died in France in 1999.Monty Burton became the first man to fly from London to New Zealand in under 24 hours, when with his navigator Flight Lieutenant Don Gannon he won the 1953 London to Christchurch...

 flying an English Electric Canberra

English Electric Canberra

The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...

, navigated by Flight Lieutenant Don Gannon. The plane touched down at Christchurch Airport

Christchurch International Airport

-Facts & figures:As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.5,908,077 passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009...

 41 minutes ahead of its closest rival — after 23hr 51min in the air including 83 minutes on the ground; to this day the record has never been broken.

There have been many films made about the commercial winner of this race, a Vickers Viscount

Vickers Viscount

The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...

, but the victory of the Canberra has been less publicised, flying at an average speed of 495 miles per hour (796.6 km/h). The distance he followed by the route he followed was 12270 miles (19,746.6 km) so that the actual speed was 515 miles per hour (230.2 m/s) (or 546 miles per hour (244.1 m/s) including immediate stops).

Second in was Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

 Peter Raw

Peter Raw

Air Commodore Peter Frank Raw DSO, DFC, AFC is a retired Royal Australian Air Force pilot and officer. He joined the RAAF in 1941, and served as a flight instructor, bomber pilot and the commander of a communications unit during World War II. After the war he became a specialist navigator. He was...

 of No. 1 Long Range Flight RAAF

No. 1 Long Range Flight RAAF

No. 1 Long Range Flight was a temporary Royal Australian Air Force unit formed to participate in the 1953 London-to-Christchurch air race . The flight was established in February 1953 and was equipped with three Canberra bombers, specially modified between June and August...

in an Australian-built Canberra.