A few pages back I again posted the original letter from the past Master of the HCAP regarding the 2016 Masters Medal.
It is worth noting the reply from the current Master of the HGAP regarding their award to Tracey Curtis Taylor.
This was sent to Daily Mail journalist Dave Jarvis on the 31st May this year when the HCAP were asked to comment.
Dear Dave.
We spoke last week, and I promised you a short written statement. The statement is as below:
"The Honourable Company of Air Pilots has awarded Tracey Curtis Taylor The Master’s Medal for organising an aviation expedition from the UK to Australia, retracing the route flown by Amy Johnson as a tribute to her, which formed part of a wider promotional endeavour to encourage females into aviation. There was one specific, principal aim in mind: to promote aviation to many thousands of youngsters, especially women, across the globe for whom flying is a distant, even unknown or seemingly unachievable activity. This is particularly relevant when an estimated 400,000 new commercial pilots are needed worldwide in the next twenty years to meet anticipated growth. The Master’s award recognises Tracey Curtis-Taylor’s work in raising awareness of science and technology in general, and aviation in particular, amongst young women across the world”.
That statement is completely different to the January letter.
The story sold to the world's media was solo flight to Australia. There has never been any mention of an airline pilot also being in the front seat.
The letter above and the statement from Peter Benn, a former airline pilot and barrister, makes no mention of airline pilot Ewald Gritsch or the part he played by being on board.
At no stage did Tracey ever reveal to the press there Ewald was on board until this thread started on pprune. She let all the UK nationals newspapers and ITN believe it was a solo trip.
Apart from a few well staged press events I fail to appreciate how she has furthered women in aviation.
What has she done apart from fly in and fly out of countries like a high society tourist. I suspect leaving the impression networking connections and lots of other people money gets you to the top.
Are we being unfair? I would love to hear from the British Women Pilots Association. Or the thousand of women who fly commercial aircraft alongside their counterparts everyday.
By contrast Amanda Harrison is open and honest about how she became the only female
Commercial Tiger Moth pilot in the UK.
Always wanting to fly, Amanda left school at the age of 15 with no useful qualifications, with one teacher saying all she would be good for is stacking shelves in a supermarket. So after working hard to obtain her Commercial Pilots License and follow one of her dreams she now fly’s Tiger Moths for a living.
It is worth noting despite all her claims in the press and on wiki her occupation as a pilot Tracey Curtis only holds a UK ppl and has never achieved a CPL.