Whilst one cannot condone much of what Maurice has done, he is largely harmless. I cannot recall an incident which has resulted in real harm to others, just many which in which he has thumbed his nose at ‘Authority.’ Be it CAA, Her Majesty’s Police or ATC, he almost goes out of his way to antagonise them. Even the CFI whom he chased across the airfield was not actually harmed! And it does appear that probably millions have been wasted chasing this one person, it often appearing to be a vendetta.
Whatever he may or may not have done though, in the sphere of aviation, for those who may like to compare and contrast, I attach photos of his arrival at Bankstown, Sydney, after flying from the UK, SOLO. Note the absence of navaids of any sort, particularly GPS, just a handheld VHF, and the simple essentials of two spanners, a pair of scissors and a disposable razor tucked behind the control cables. Not even a transponder for flight in ‘controlled airspace!’
Those air racers were not accorded the privilege of an arrival into Kingsford Smith with accolades, but were confined to Bankstown. Kirk, in spite of a thorough briefing was excluded by the Polair helicopters from the ‘Victory Parade’ of the aircraft around the Harbour. Maybe someone had tipped them off about Maurice!
As to other anecdotes, chevvron, I was always led to believe that they were hares not rabbits! And the sequel to the Captain Kirk incident was that when he was asked “How do you plead?” by The Beak in the subsequent hearing, he pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket and whispered loudly into it, “Beam me up now, Scotty!”
Beags, you are probably right but many pioneers, explorers, inventors etc., have also worn the same tag!
Funny you should mention Oliver Reed on a Kirk thread, Sam!