I for one don't wish TCT any ill-will at all, nothing personal but a wish to see the record set straight and any undeserved awards rescinded, refused or returned. I hope TCT has a great New Year and uses it to make a fresh start and actually do some outreach and not just hobnobbing for her own gain.
Portsmouth Uni have been shown as trying to fudge the issue, the letter from the VC saying the award
was for 13,000 mile solo flight and not, as has more recently been claimed, for outreach/role-model blah blah blah.
HCAP took a different tack and amended the citations; it is shame a FOI request cannot be applied to them too just to see EXACTLY what was said about her and the justification for the Master's Medal.
As for NY honours list.
Bear in mind that it is only a strong rumour that TCT has been put up for an award... but any award proposed and any citation raised would make no mention of solo flight. It will have been rewritten as many times as her wiki page to ensure it is strong enough to pass muster but vague enough to avoid detailed scrutiny. Personally I would like to think that the chance of an award is zero simply because I would expect those that have the power to grant these awards have the common sense and imagination to see the potential for massive future embarrassment.
If the Honours and Appointments Secretariat have done their job then the controversy surrounding TCT will have been seen, discussed, and judged. This, in my opinion, should leave them with three potential options:
a) Give an award.
b) Postpone the award.
c) Not issue any award.
Given the aforementioned controversy then the first option would certainly be foolhardy and therefore unlikely. The honours system is already under scrutiny for how it has been conducted in the past and I cannot see anyone wanting this situation to attract even more high-profile negativity.
The second option does give all sides a chance to put forward facts and produce verifiable evidence. Although we have done this many times, TCT has yet to do so; even answering those simple questions often repeated in this thread would be a start. Plus, I have it on good authority that a proposed Queen's Birthday award had been "put on the back burner" for these reasons. Given that since that occasion no supporting evidence has come from the BiaB/TCT camp but plenty more deception and back-pedalling has been brought to light, then I would think this too is unlikely.
This just leaves the third option as the easy way out. It guarantees no future (honours) embarrassment based upon the weak claims and lies that have come from TCT herself. It also leaves the way open for her to be justifiably rewarded if she does go on to bigger and better things.
The ragged green woolly jumper with BiaB and the Spirit of Artifice emblazoned across it is beginning to look like it has been dragged around the world behind the Stearman. It, like this saga, is unravelling with appreciable pace and there are still plenty more loose threads to be pulled. Any one of these could result in the "so much egg on so many faces" scenario hinted at earlier in this thread.
I'll leave you with this mental image; if TCT wants to avoid a facial omelette, she needs to tell the truth.
and on that note...
I wish you all a great 2017
