...and this is why the thread never gets boring.
I said before that there were lots of little threads that still required a tug to get them unravelling and this one has been niggling me for some time...
When TCT left Farnborough for Oz she was on her own;why?
Quite simply it was because ALL the media were there to see her off and explaining the second person in the aircraft would have been rather difficult at that crucial phase of the journey. A short, easy, hop across the channel to pick up her pax (out of sight of the cameras) and off THEY toddled to the southern hemisphere. The more it niggles me the more I wonder if she went Farnborough to somewhere more local to pick up her pax and then across the channel.
I would really really really like to get my hands on the GenDocs which should show who was in the aircraft and for which leg(s) of the flight TCT managed on her own (with chase plane either "chasing" or "leading").
If HCAP knew all along it was not solo how come Portsmouth Uni did not have the same information? They too amended their reasons for the award they gave once the crap started to hit the fan, not expecting an FOI request which shows they gave it for a 13,000mile solo flight. One of the early HCAP citations had Ewald as the co-pilot/engineer; how does that sit with her sole pilot claim.
Bottom line is someone has lied and awards and sponsorship have been dished out like smarties based upon these lies.