She has yet to answer the elephant in the room question.
What part did Ewald Gritsch play in this saga?
More importantly she described him as a passenger when the Arizona accident happened.
However it does not take much effort on google to discover he was a highly qualified "passenger".
I, and the Bird in a Biplane Team believe it is helpful to respond to some commentary appearing in the press about whether the flight expeditions undertaken in 2013-2016 were flown solo or in company.
For the avoidance of doubt, I have always been the sole pilot of Spirit of Artemis.
In planning the expedition through Africa in 2013 there was an initial hope of a solo flight in the beautiful & original 1942 Boeing Stearman.
However, in the early stages of the flight this concept was intentionally and officially dropped as I and the Bird in a Biplane Team brought our flight planning and logistics increasingly in-house and the expedition evolved into a much bigger opportunity to extend the program with documentary filming, an extensive outreach program involving different charities along the route and sharing the experience of open cockpit flying with others.
I am deeply disappointed at the comments coming from a particular source making false assertions that my flight expeditions should have been executed as solo flights. They were not. They are all about a collaborative team effort and celebrating the brilliant achievements of women like Amy Johnson and Lady Heath who made history when aviation was in its infancy.
Tracey Curtis-Taylor
Tracey Curtis Taylor - Aviatrix, Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker
Now I might be missing something but she paints the picture of a solo flight in her various media interviews but never mentions the fact that her 1300 hours of ppl flying are dwarfed by the man in the front seat whose company owns the aircraft.
"Sole" pilot is not the same as solo pilot. Two pilots on board means one can do nav and radio while the other handles the physical part of flying. Half the workload of that experienced by Lady Mary Heath or Amy Johnson.
She also makes the point ..
I am deeply disappointed at the the comments coming from a particular source making false assertions that my flight expeditions should have been executed as solo flights. They were not. They are all about a collaborative team effort"
In other words there was another pilot on board the Spirit of Artemis for all flights but she never admitted this or revealed him to the press corps on arrival in Sydney despite the fact he could be seen in all the pictures. Here he is..
Did she admit to the Light Aircraft Association when she accepted the Bill Woodham Navigation Award that she was not solo on the Africa trip? That is what the above statement reveals.
Did she send the above statement to the HCAP Master before he sent his letter to her which obviously reveals he was not aware Ewald Gritsch was in the front seat.
The clever picture she portrays in all her many interviews have never mentioned
the part Ewald plays in this charade.
Owner and constructor of the Spirit of Artemis and a pilot well qualified beyond the skills of most of us.
Her theme tends to focus on those early women pilots which she has tried to highlight in her much publicised 'adventures" recently.
Some of my biggest inspirations in life have been the first African and Polar explorers, the early mountaineers, and of course, all of the pioneering aviators, especially the women. I think their personal courage and flying achievements were exponentially greater given that they were up against a totally male establishment which was often obstructive and dismissive. They are some of the greatest female role models in history.
Q & A with Tracey Curtis Taylor - Features - Pilot
Amy Johnson and Lady Heath must be turning in their graves at this so called "celebration" of their achievements and wondering why they never thought about taking a 'Ewald' along.