British Pathe

Title reads: "London to the Cape - A Film Record of F. Roy Tuckett's Lone Aerial Trip".

Intertitle: "Not content with the job of piloting his plane, Roy Tuckett took films enroute unaided on the long 8,500 mile trip to South Africa."

Reel 1. C/U of Roy speaking directly to camera...

Title reads: "London to the Cape - A Film Record of F. Roy Tuckett's Lone Aerial Trip".

Intertitle: "Not content with the job of piloting his plane, Roy Tuckett took films enroute unaided on the long 8,500 mile trip to South Africa."

Reel 1. C/U of Roy speaking directly to camera about his decision to take on this adventure. C/U of a graphic map of Africa. Tuckett talks us through his flight - he has no film the European leg of the journey due to International Air Regulations. He talks of mechanical problems over the Mediterranean. He talks of the Sahara Desert.. He points to Alexandria on the map and then we see an aerial shot of the city. C/U of engineers working on the plane, one of the men holds a dog up to the camera. Shot of a Vickers Victorial fruit carrier. A 6ft tall mechanic stands in front of the plane to give an idea of the enormous size of the aircraft. Shot of the interior of the plane. Various shots of aircraft taking off and on the ground. Shots of a sea-plane taking off on route to Athens. Aerial shot of Alexandria. Peninsular of Montaza (?) Cairo, shots of a pyramid. Our narrator states that he has promised an Arab five shillings if he can run up and down in ten minutes. We see the man climbing the pyramid. View from the top of the pyramid of a large hotel - the Meena (?) House Hotel. Shot of the Sphinx from the top of the pyramid. M/S of the Arab climbing down off the pyramid. M/S of the man posing with one of Tuckett's helpers to show that he is "not a young man". M/S of Sphinx with Tuckett and companions walking in front of it. Sunset over the pyramid. Half a dozen men praying to mecca in the desert. Low angle shot of a bi-plane flying over a pyramid. Assute (?) - Tuckett's plane on the ground undergoing repairs. Panning shot of a large number of R.A.F. aircraft standing on an airfield - bi-planes. Low angle shots of the aircraft in flight. One of the planes does a "loop the loop." A water buffalo operates a primitive irrigation system. Shots of the device and of the buffalo. Sunset over a river with palm trees. Aerial shots of landscape on the way to Luxor. Valley of the Kings. The Nile. Various shots of the monthly market in Luxor - very busy, lots of camels and Arabs. One man crouches down to have his head shaved. Panning shot of the gates of the Temples of Karnak. Various shots of the statues, obelisks and walls of the temples. Sacred lake. Avenue of Sphinxes. Aerial shots of the desert. Wadi Halfa in the Sudan is reached. M/S of aircraft on a runway - it has an Arab guard. Sunrise - man riding a camel and a man walking are silhouetted against the sky. Kartoum. Tuckett takes a river trip. Various shots of docks. Royal Air Force flies overhead carrying out their daily exercises. Aerial shots of Malakau (?) Mongala - shots of primitive houses on the riverbank. M/Ss of "natives". C/U of a woman who has a baby strapped to her back. She has made a sunshade for the baby from a kalabash (?) Various shots of the woman. "Some of the village belles posed for me in front of my plane" - a group of bare breasted women stand in front of Tucketts aircraft. Turoro (?) in Uganda. The locals help to pull the plane through some long grass. The Ugandan natives are described as being superior to most other African tribes. Tucketts points out the fine features of a Ugandan policeman. Tuckett says: "They certainly work like niggers as they clear the way...for me to take off." Locals dig the ground of the airfield. M/S of the plane which is lying on its back. The back axle had broken on take off and the plane had done a somersault. Tuckett films from the plane as he passes vast plains of wildebeest, zebras and other game. Approaching Nairobi, Tuckett films a forest fire. He finds an appropriate place to land and film a forest fire. End of Part 1.

See reel 2.

Note: obviously Tuckett's comment about the local African tribe seems racist in retrospect.