I thought it best to clarify a couple of the aspects of Tracey Curtis-Taylor's Spirit of Artemis flight from Cape Town to Goodwood.
She did 44 flights within Africa from Cape Town to Crete in Greece.
On 40 of these flights, she was accompanied by her instructor (20000+ hours, and the same man who (beautifully) rebuilt the aeroplane from scratch).
On two of the solo flights, she asked the C208 to fly slowly in front of her as she was worried she wouldn't find the destination airfield (despite having two moving map GPS in the cockpit).
She had three pilots doing all the flight planning and preparation, filing of flight plans etc. and a full support organisation for all the ground logistics.
In short, perhaps not the 'achievement' she seeks to portray - and certainly nothing compared to Mary Heath's story (or many others).
In 2015 she accepted the prestigious Light Aircraft Association's Bill Woodhams Trophy normally awarded for 'Feats of Navigation'.
I consider it unfortunate:
- That her flight was judged the winner for 2014.
- That she was prepared to accept it (as opposed to politely declining).
- That whoever was in 'second place' missed out on what should perhaps have been theirs?
Looking to set the story a little straighter before this goes into the history books...
Safe flights, Sam.