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Back in the early fifties, people mostly still travelled by DC-4 and aircraft sometimes had “plug trouble.” On the day of our particular tale, one such aircraft had been chartered by members of Melbourne’s racing fraternity to attend the annual Launceston Cup meeting. At their mid-morning departure time, the passengers took their seats only to learn that the aircraft had developed a mechanical snag. The passengers returned to the lounge and were told to expect a delay of about one hour, and a message was sent to Launceston advising of the expected departure time.
With the hour gone by with no more news, a Race Club representative enquired at the airline office in Launceston as to how things were progressing at Essendon, as some jockeys engaged for the Cup were among the delayed passengers. An airline employee drafted a teletype to Essendon which read: “Launceston race official requests information with regard to charter flight.” When this was reduced to telegraphese it became: “LT RACES OFF REQUESTS INFO RE CHARTER.” (In those days, ports had two-letter abbreviations).
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