My viewpoint
I figure that in response to the e-mails and calls that i have had, it is about time i was to put the record straight on the story so far. The colapse of the expedition has affected everybody and i doubt that there is a single person in the aviation comunity who does not have an opinion on what happened and what went wrong. Having not been briefed on what the "party line" is then i see no harn in telling it exactly how it is. There has been much speculation about what has gone on and indeed what is going on now. That is one area where i have no comment to make and will not be drawn into speculated answers. When viewed in isolation ,sailient points seem out of proportion but when put into context, complement themselves and allow us to see the bigger picture.
As i am sure you are all aware, the cancelation of the trip was put down to the damage sustained to the Autogyro during its brief tenure in India. To the very best of my knowledge, no pictures of the damage in either still or video format have been made available. Magni Gyro, the original designers and manufacturers of the Autogyro and sponsorers of the expedition were not involved in the classification or estimated repair bill for the Autogyro. Indeed they were never given the oppertunity to make good on their pledge of engineering support and technical back up. They are not alone. There was offers of support and assistance in financial and technical areas and this was rejected by the team. The continuation of the expedition was not stopped by any insurmountable technical reasons and could of continued, if that was the wish.
At no point during this expedition or during the whole of the world range record preparation and execution have i made any money from or taken any money from any of my work with Global Eagle. It is very hurtfull for sombody to accuse you of holding the expedition to ransom and not giving technical support in favour of a larger fee, quite simply this is not the case. The cost of all of this has been massive. It extends way beyond the trivial matter of money spent out,favours called in,luck pushed,parts begged borrowed and stolen,hundreds of unpaid hours and crap taken. The true cost is friendship and that is the one irreplaceable cost of it all. The whole thing has destroyed all of that and left in its place an air of mis-trust and resentment. Flying round the world is easy,just make sure that you are ready to pay the price for it.