I was being sarcastic and suggesting her claims were to add a dimension of danger and fighting the elements.
I doubt TCT ever saw any real bad weather. They dawdled along the route taking three months making their reality tv programme and staying in many five star hotels en route.
The whole saga was well funded by some generous sponsors coupled with slick orchestrated public relations.
The same applied to London to Sydney Air Race.
The winner,Spirit of Kai Tak,was a 'remanufactured' pressurized Piper Aerostar with a crew of four pilots!
However this press release tried to hype the journey.
London to Sydney Air Race 2001
"This race was a grueling test of both speed and endurance with a total distance of 12,040 nautical miles and a course that traveled through some of the most remote parts of the world."
"The London to Sydney Race consisted of 16 officially timed legs, averaging 494 nautical miles in length. "
Not exactly a hard task to fly an Aerostar over sixteen 500 nm hops.
By contrast Brian Milton and Eve Jackson really faced the elements in such a tiny aircraft but for me paraplegic Dave Sykes UK to Australia trip takes some beating.
