Skip to main content
Ingenium Logo

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

✖


This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

✖


Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Ingenium The Channel

Langue

  • Français
Search Toggle

Menu des liens rapides

  • Ingenium Locations
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join
Menu

Main Navigation

  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners

Adventures with G-AKDN - Chapter 21

Share
Sep 23, 2016
Categories
Aviation
Media
Article
Profile picture for user Canada Aviation and Space Museum
By: Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Pat Fillingham holding The Kings Cup with Sonja at his side. 1953
Pat Fillingham holding The Kings Cup with Sonja at his side. 1953

The slim streamlined silver Chipmunk G-AKDN streaked across the finish line winning the 1953 Kings Cup Air Race at a speed of 140 mph. Piloted by deHavilland test pilot Pat Fillingham with his wife Sonja navigating. Now 63 years later KDN wearing it’s wining race number 54, is reunited with her Navigator Sonja Fillingham and the original Kings Cup Trophy!

Karen and I have flown KDN to Kemble Airfield on the Eastern side of The Cotswolds for the Kings Cup reunion. There are many other aircraft flying in today that also share the prize of winning the Cup. It is amazing to see the wide range of types that have their names engraved on the trophy. The weather has been typical UK summer with rain. I believe this has limited some from attending, but we are surprised at the ones that do make the effort are the older vintage types as opposed to the modern ones that are more recent winners.

It is especially great to have Sonja here to be reunited with KDN as well as seeing the original Cup again after so many years. Sonja has also brought her “keeper’ Cup. It is a smaller version of the original that she was allowed to keep. While the original Cup has Pat’s name and race date engraved on it, Sonja’s has KDN’s registration and the winning speed also engraved on it. This is the first time Karen and I have ever seen these trophies and we are very excited to see them together with KDN. We have a very nice day visiting with Sonja and the other pilots listing to them exchange racing stories.

We are also looking forward to entering this years Kings Cup race with KDN. It is unlikely we will achieve the speed of Sonja and Pat but it will be a rewarding experience just to have KDN participating 63 years after her first win. I don’t know if there is another airplane that will have that distinction. As we will see, the racing is sometimes the easiest part of the event.

To be continued...

Sonja Fillingham, KDN and The Kings Cup, together again 63 years later.

Sonja's "keeper' trophy engraved-Winner Pat Fillingham Chipmunk G-AKDN Speed 140MPH

Dave and Karen with Sonja, holding her Kings Cup "keeper", in front of KDN.

Author(s)
Profile picture for user Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Follow

More Stories by

Profile picture for user Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Three young women sit in the cockpit of an aircraft; they are all looking back at the camera and smiling.

Finding the wings to fly: Aviation opens its doors for Nunavik youth

A small plane drops presents over a snowy field full of people.

A sweet finale: Bush pilot Johnny May leaves an inspiring legacy

Illustration of a biplane, the Nintendo Switch™ logo and text over image: Skies of Fury DX

Skies of Fury DX for Nintendo Switch™

Avro Arrow

Newsroom: Canada Aviation and Space Museum joins national partners on search-and-recovery of free-flight Avro Arrow models from Lake Ontario

Space Frontiers: Dawn of Mars

Space Frontiers: Dawn of Mars

Ace Academy: Skies of Fury

Ace Academy: Skies of Fury

Enlist in the Ace Academy: Black Flight, the Museum’s Mobile Game

Enlist in the Ace Academy: Black Flight, the Museum’s mobile game.

Ace Academy

Ace Academy

Wings on My Sleeve - David H. Tate, Captain (N) / Colonel CAF

Wings on My Sleeve - David H. Tate, Captain (Navy) / Colonel CAF

Related Stories

The first page of the comic strip Julien Gagnon. Rémy, “Julien Gagnon.” Le Petit Journal, magazine section, 16 May 1948, 18.

The great adventure of a fictional Québec pilot and amateur spy hunter who confronted an equally fictional Communist bad hombre at the dawn of a very real Cold War: The Julien Gagnon comic strip by Rémy / Normand Hudon

The one and only Rohr M.O.1 Midnight Oiler before the installation of its definitive nose section and forward horizontal stabiliser, Chula Vista, California. Anon., “Private Flying – ‘Midnight Oiler’ Radical Design Lightplane is Built by Rohr.” Aviation News, 1 July 1946, 15.

Burning the midnight oil to reach for the sky and roar: The all too brief saga of the Rohr M.O.1 Midnight Oiler light / private plane

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 piloted by Second Lieutenant Franciszek Jarecki, Rønne airfield, Rønne, Denmark. Jarecki is the gentleman marked by an arrow. Anon., “Undamaged Red Jet in NATO Hands.” The Gazette, 7 March 1953, 2.

A flight for freedom which pierced the Iron Curtain; or, The day Second Lieutenant Franciszek Jarecki escaped from Poland aboard a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter

The prototype of the Astro Kinetics Aero Kinetic Lift, Houston, Texas. Anon., “Aircraft and Powerplants – Crane version of ‘flying saucer’ projected in U.S.A.” The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, 7 March 1963, 24.

“Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a Texan flying saucer!” Astro Kinetics Corporation of Houston, Texas, and its unique looking vertical take off landing aircraft

The Canadair Silver Star of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, June 2005. This aircraft was flown by the Red Knight, the solo aerobatic pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force, in 1961-64. Alain Rioux, via Wikimedia.

It really kept going and going and going: A brief look at the Canadian career of the Lockheed / Canadair Silver Star jet trainer, part 2

Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Brooke Claxton, left, during the taking of possession of the first Canadian-made Lockheed T-33 Silver Star jet trainer, Cartierville, Québec. Anon., “M. Claxton reçoit le premier réacté T-33 fabriqué ici.” La Patrie, 13 February 1953, 1.

It really kept going and going and going: A brief look at the Canadian career of the Lockheed / Canadair Silver Star jet trainer, part 1

A Woolery Machine Company runway de-icing device in action at Cologne-Wahn airport, Cologne, West Germany. Anon., “Ancillary Review – Flame-throwing – On Ice.” The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, 28 February 1963, 29.

Come on, PB, light my fire. Try to set the ice on fire: A peek at the American firm Woolery Machine Company and some of its ideas and products

The Junkers Ju 52 bushplane registered as CF-ARM of Canadian Airways Limited of Montréal, Québec, Manuan Lake, Québec, August or September 1940. CASM, 13469.

Old bushplanes never die, they just fade away: A few lines, all right, many lines on the remarkable career of a Junkers Ju 52 “flying box car” named CF-ARM, part 3

The Junkers Ju 52 bushplane registered as CF-ARM of Canadian Airways Limited of Montréal, Québec, under repair, Arviat, Nunavut (Eskimo Point, Northwest Territories), September 1932. CASM, 1208.

Old bushplanes never die, they just fade away: A few lines, all right, many lines on the remarkable career of a Junkers Ju 52 “flying box car” named CF-ARM, part 2

The Junkers Ju 52 bushplane registered as CF-ARM of Canadian Airways Limited of Montréal, Québec. Anon., “Pionnier des transports lourds dans le nord du Canada, le ‘Cargo volant’ a fini sa carrière.” Photo-Journal, 29 January 1948, 2.

Old bushplanes never die, they just fade away: A few lines, all right, many lines on the remarkable career of a Junkers Ju 52 “flying box car” named CF-ARM, part 1

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Sergeant Bob Electro caught in the act of saluting the commanding officer of RCAF Station Clinton, Group Captain John Gordon Mathieson, Clinton, Ontario. Anon., “Six-Year-Old Sergeant.” The North Bay Nugget, 7 January 1963, 15.

Dōmo arigatō, gunsō Electro, mata au hi made: The electronic adventures of Royal Canadian Air Force / Canadian Armed Forces Sergeant Bob Electro

The 10-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 3

Footer

About The Channel

The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Channel

    • Channel Home
    • About the Channel
    • Content Partners
  • Visit

    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
    • Canada Aviation and Space Museum
    • Canada Science and Technology Museum
    • Ingenium Centre
  • Ingenium

    • Ingenium Home
    • About Ingenium
    • The Foundation
  • For Media

    • Newsroom
    • Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Sign Up

Legal Bits

Ingenium Privacy Statement

© 2023 Ingenium

Symbol of the Government of Canada
  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners