VOL. 55 ISSUE 17 MAY 1, 2018 P107
meeting, Phillip Vincent
invited McAlpine to ride
Gunga Din, which he did
with great verve, sliding
speedway-style through
the turns to demolish
the field. McAlpine then
sailed home, taking
with him the new, unraced Black
Lightning. He had no plans to
return to Europe, but after receiv-
ing a sponsorship offer from Shell,
plus the nomination as Australian
representative for the TT, he de-
cided to return for 1952. To save
money and stay clear of injury, he
didn't race during his brief return
to Australia, and put the Vincent
up for sale.
The £500 price asked for the
Black Lightning would have bought
Ehret during his record-breaking
1953 run at Gunnedah.
The brakes are the essentially
useless, especially when
compared to how fast the
Vincent is.
The e such massive amnts of tque
even by today's standds that the Vincent
just lunges fwd in the nt high ge
when y get back the throle.
Man Junior TT. In between races,
McAlpine worked at the Vincent
factory at Stevenage, and with
the factory's blessing, assembled
his own Black Lightning with
engine number F10AB/1C/7305
and frame number RC9205. This
was completed on June 5, 1951,
and tested on July 19 at Great
Gransden airstrip alongside Gun-
ga Din, hitting 130 mph in third
gear and, according to McAlpine,
out-accelerating Gunga Din by a
clear 30 yards on each standing-
start sprint run.
McAlpine's final race in Britain
before sailing for home was at
Boreham Aerodrome, a very fast
circuit, in a program that in-
cluded an Unlimited race. For the
