COULD supersonic travel from Launceston to Australia become a reality?

Not yet, unfortunately — although the plane ticket for a Launceston resident could give the impression that a journey of about 26 hours could take just one.

Dunheved Road resident Peter Cook recently travelled from Launceston, Cornwall, to Launceston, Tasmania. Peter is overseas director of the MG Car Club, which is based in Abingdon — on the site of the former factory, which produced these iconic sport cars for about 50 years. One of Peter’s responsibilities is to visit affiliated MG clubs around the world. There are around 80 clubs affiliated to the Abingdon mother club. They are located in most European countries, North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil.

The visit to Launceston, Tasmania, was to attend the Australian national MG meeting, which this year happened to be held in Ulverstone, Tasmania. As he had to travel from Christchurch, New Zealand, where he had attended another national MG event to Ulverstone on the same day, Launceston’s frequent flights to and from Melbourne were the best option. There are flights to Melbourne from Devonport in Tasmania, but these are less frequent. With a recently launched flight from Perth to London taking 18 hours, it looks as if it will be some time before Launceston in Cornwall has an airport, let alone supersonic travel — although those less familiar with Launceston’s shared name with the Australian town could perhaps think otherwise.

The MG Car Club, founded in 1930, is a non-profit club. The UK club, based on the old factory site in Abingdon, has close to 11,000 members and there are approximately 40,000 affiliated members overseas. Peter’s unpaid job is to provide a service for the latter. In the past year, he has visited affiliated clubs in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Monaco, the Czech Republic and Portugal. Prior to retirement, Peter was a lecturer at Plymouth Business School for 23 years, and he has lived in or near Launceston for 28 years.