Well, I was going to hold off until Monday but now, having read the dross in the TIMES i have written to them and pointed the Editorial Team in the right directions.
One thing that struck me was the playing of the SEXISM card. No sexism from me, any pilot who made such claims of unimaginable skill would fall under the spot-light, irrespective of gender.
The main SEXIST aspect comes from TCT herself; Did she not consider how derogatory the BIRD-IN-A-BIPLANE moniker looks.
Were there other catchy titles considered too?
I think "Doris-in-a-double-wing" or "Strumpet-in-a-stringbag" might have run a close second and third.
In 2005 Helen MacArthur ( A TRUE inspiration to women) sailed single-handedly around the world, she too was lauded with justifiable awards (including the Honorary Lt Cdr rank). Imagine the furore if she stepped off her boat at the end, closely followed by a fellow sailor and boat engineer! Just for the record Tracey, she did her venture ALONE / SINGLE-HANDEDLY / SOLO (for the avoidance of doubt), and still managed to further the cause of women adventurers.
You have probably set it back 30 years - what people see now, and what they will see in the very near future is that you have lied about what you were doing, you have mislead sponsors, you have manipulated the media, and the accolades received have been based on a charade. Are you still sure this is how you want women to behave to achieve their goals?
You then try to deflect the blame onto others. The scurrying re-writes of web-pages and media statements are testament to this... Sorry chuck, but them's the facts - all of which can be verified and will certainly be produced in court if necessary.
Just to save time and effort, and so it is not lost in the myriad of pages, here is what I found in post #2299
Watch this video chaps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fujEzI94zAc
Main part that will be of interest starts at 8:05 , listen very carefully at 9:45
Out of her own smug chops spew the words "...contacted me after I came back from Africa on my SOLO flight from Capetown back to England at the end of last year"
She then repeats the SOLO word again at 11:20. ..." that is what really drove my flight <pause for effect> SOLO from Capetown to England".
Seems this was at Herne Bay 20 September 2014.