I failed to mention in my first post that Jan's flight in G-AWAW was made in 1980. The plane later became an interactive Flight Lab exhibit at the British Science Museum in London. Coincidentally this was placed in near proximity of Amy Johnson's plane Jasper so that was rather neat.
When the members of the Cessna 150-152 Club in America heard that G-AWAW was to be scrapped (it was Jan who alerted me to this), we passed the hat in the club and managed to raise enough to load her o to a container to America. We had fantastic assistance from the museum director and his staff at Wroughton in Wiltshire (AW was stored in an enormous cavernous hangar at the former WW2 bomber base there) and from a small handful of volynteers from here at Pprune who had read about the planned rescue in another post. I think that must have been in a different forum...perhaps I have posted this in the wrong place? I want to thank those gentlemen again- we could not have managed it without the assistance we received from people in England who gave so generously of their time to help us.
I for my part am hoping that G-AWAW will fly again one day...a sort of resurrection story. It may not have the mystique and glory of a Spitfire, Lancaster or Hurricane, but there is something very inspiring about an ordinary, rather shy person making a rather extraordinary flight in so weak an aircraft. Alot went wrong on that flight, so that is when it became a test of character and perseverance and dogged persistence to slog on through, finish the race and cross the line, even though there would be little fanfare or glory for having done so. She wrote a book about it called She Who Dares Succeeds. Rather like life. I thought she was a very courageous lady ... a sort of everyman's hero because she didn't give up but saw it through. I have tried to remember her Never Say Die example in my own life when the chips have been down and one has wanted to give up. So for me personally, both plane and pilot are worthy of being remembered, the pilot for her sterling personal qualities when things went against her, and the plane because that is a pretty amazing feat for a humble trainer!
Jennifer in Norway