Surely the term sole pilot can only be used when there is more than one pilot on board?
Otherwise it must be pilot and passengers.
Having said that I have never come across the term before.
Ewald has now stated...
Yes, like others I had the opportunity to enjoy a very special view on planet earth from the front seat of this open cockpit biplane. But I did NOT act as a pilot nor as a flight instructor on these expedition flights.
Fair enough Ewald but the view would have been the same from the front of the chase plane. Why were you in all the pictures and why did you have to be in the front seat of the Spirit of Artemis on landing in Sydney. Why did you hide from the press at the end of the trip in that now famous Getty Images picture?
On the following expeditions I took over the tasks of supporting Tracey Curtis-Taylor with all the flight planning and logistics.
Flight planning and logistics are part of a modern single engined non commercial pilots task as well as those faced historically by Lady Mary Heath and Amy Johnson. Those women did it alone and were certainly not helped by a commercial male pilot and engineer.
On every flight I have ever made, as a private pilot over 36 years of fixed wing and rotary flying,the planning,logistics and piloting has been carried out by me alone. Flying in friends aircraft I have sat back,enjoyed the trip and let them do the work.
Airlines use the terms pilot flying and pilot not flying
Control of the aircraft is normally shared equally between the first officer and the captain, with one pilot normally designated the "pilot flying" (PF) and the other the "pilot not flying" (PNF), or "pilot monitoring" (PM), for each flight.
To "emulate" Lady Mary Heath or Amy Johnson's expeditions accurately would require a De Haviland aircraft as near the period as possible to be flown solo as near the route as possible and under similar conditions. ie Unsupported and the 'sole' / solo pilot responsible for all aspects of the ground planning and airwork.
If we start using terms such as 'celebrate' then I can claim to celebrate the Wright Brothers every time I get airborne and I have 'emulated' Bleriot many times when crossing the Channel after a nice weekend in L2K
I won't bore you with stories of my trips where I survived the Bermuda Triangle
I have also often celebrated and emulated Igor Sikorsky but I am still waiting for BBC Radio 4's Midweek producers to get back to me.