The story below has appeared in the Times. It appears Terry Holloway,chair of the Air League Awards committee, is not a fan of Maurice Kirk.
An eccentric British pilot has been kicked off a race to fly the length of Africa over allegations that his airmanship was irresponsible and dangerous.
Maurice Kirk, 72, was flying a single-seat aircraft from Crete to Cape Town as part of an 8,000-mile vintage rally with 21 other aircraft. His 1943 Piper Cub was due to land in Gambela, western Ethiopia, on Tuesday but the organisers said that he had gone missing.
Mr Kirk, a former drinking pal of the film actor Oliver Reed, had fallen out with the rally’s director, Sam Rutherford, as they flew south from Khartoum. On a previous trip across the desert Mr Kirk had boasted about flying “below camel level”.
He was asked to leave the rally after he suffered two engine failures — possibly owing to fuel starvation — on the way to Khartoum. It is understood that his satellite equipment and compass also failed. However, instead of heading back north while the rest of the team continued the trip to Cape Town, he tried to follow them. When he failed to appear by nightfall, the organisers raised the alarm.
Terry Holloway, vice-chairman of the Air League, who has been in communication with the group, said: “He turned up yesterday morning, having spent the night in his plane, or under the wing, in the desert. We are delighted he is safe and well but many of us were bewildered that Maurice was allowed to be part of such a trip, given his record.
“He is well known in aviation circles to be a liability. He flies without a licence and cuts corners. He has guts and is probably quite an accomplished pilot but he is a nightmare. As eccentrics go, they don’t get any weirder than Maurice Kirk.”
Asked what kind of state Mr Kirk was in when he arrived, Mr Holloway said: “I don’t know, but knowing Maurice, he’s probably causing as much mayhem as possible.”
Last night the rally organisers announced that all crews were in Gambela “where the Ethiopian authorities have elected to allocate them accommodation at the airport rather than permit them to proceed to their pre-booked hotel”.
It appears that Ethiopian officials impounded ten aircraft flying with the rally, including five biplanes. “Gambela is not an international airport,” a spokesman for the government in Addis Ababa said. “They need permission to fly over.”
Mr Kirk had been a vet in south Wales but was struck off for “disgraceful behaviour” in 2002. He lost his pilot’s licence in 2008 after landing in Texas next to President Bush’s ranch. “I thought I could knock on his door and leave a note to thank him for the US coastguard saving my life,” he said, referring to another of his mishaps.
Oliver Reed?s drinking buddy raises hell on vintage air rally over Africa | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
In May this year the Air League awarded Tracey Curtis Taylor with a framed address in recognition of her flight from Farnborough to Sydney.Terry appeared to have ignored her self claimed non VRF bad weather and low level flying.
Well known aircraft spares supplier Paul Nalson sprung to Kirks defence in a comment below the article . (Which was coincidently written by Lucy Bannerman who ran a puff story on TCT a few weeks ago, in the Times.)
Do not let the facts get in the way of a good story. I can say that I have known Maurice for over 40 years and can vouch that many of the stories about him are perfectly true, but my no means all of them. .
Firstly the photographs that you show of Maurice's wrecked plane is not the one that he is currently flying. Liberty Girl, is the aircraft that he flew in the London to Australia air race and was damaged several times subsequently. He is now in Liberty Girl 11.
The article states he was arrested for landing next to the president's ranch. This makes it sound like he was landing on the White House Lawn. According to Maurice it was a mile or so outside of the ranch. (Which is hardly going to be a suburban type property) My understanding is that he did not lose his licence either.
There was an investigation and that if we are supposed to believe that he spent the last eight years flying without a licence, then the authorities can only have themselves to blame.
It is a legal requirement to have liability insurance on a British or European registered aircraft. Without a licence such insurance would be invalid. Whilst he has a very old aeroplane there is another legal requirement that it should have a certificate of airworthiness or permit to fly. Again if he did not meet these requirements, the rally organisers would only have themselves to blame if they had not checked his credentials.
What is possibly a more interesting story is the fact that the whole rally appears to be detained because they (the organisers) failed to get the proper authorisation to land at Gambela and they are possibly breaking far more laws than Maurice, supposedly is.
Terry Holloway states that he was bewildered that Morris was allowed to part of the trip. Could I suggest that when Maurice was one of the first people to step forward to join the rally that the organisers were quite keen to take his money at the time. His aircraft is old enough to qualify, but again it was felt to be more glamorous to be operating biplane and for that reason, once again, he does not 'fit'.
The comment that 'as eccentrics go, they don't get any weirder the Maurice Kirk' I can say that they certainly do, but they get a different kind of publicity, (or no publicity).
Maurice defies convention. When I learned to fly nearly 50 years ago it was impressed upon us that there were no old bold pilots. At the age of 72. he is nothing if not bold.
Paul Nalson
I like this comment
Michael Neville 14 hours ago
Great to see that there are still a few slightly crazy, freedom loving individuals left in this increasingly regimented world. Reading about him really got my day off to a good start! :-)