The Lady Who Flew Africa
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Boeing-Stearman
Soloed 19.9.41. in a Stearman PT-17 at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia FLA.
Flew my first 60 hrs in them. To make it more interesting, they took the ASI out of the (stood's) back cockpit.
Didn't worry us - what you've never had, you never miss !
Great old aircraft. Glad to see this one's flying with the original 220hp Continental. Many have been beefed up with what looks like a Wasp Junior.
Danny42C.
(Arnold Scheme alumnus)
Flew my first 60 hrs in them. To make it more interesting, they took the ASI out of the (stood's) back cockpit.
Didn't worry us - what you've never had, you never miss !
Great old aircraft. Glad to see this one's flying with the original 220hp Continental. Many have been beefed up with what looks like a Wasp Junior.
Danny42C.
(Arnold Scheme alumnus)
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Hello Danny42C, bit off context but I have a 1941 Stearman that was used for Army Air Corps training in Florida. Later in life it was a cropduster with a P&W 985 Wasp Junior but now has an original Continental W670, 220hp again. if you would like to send me some gen on your Stearman training experiences and aircraft numbers that would be great.
Thanks, Rhys Perraton [email protected]
Thanks, Rhys Perraton [email protected]
More about Race2Darwin here: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/Mike-Wigg
Apart from making TV programmes could someone please enlighten me as to exactly what the point of these trips are? These "adventurer" types ran out of things to do years ago & now seem to be constantly "re-inventing the wheel". There may possibly be a charitable element, but does the amount raised actually significantly exceed the costs of the operation? Like walking to the poles etc. it all seems rather pointless in this day & age, and just looks like a "look at me" exercise for those involved.
Meeting a personal challenge...........???
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Race2darwin Amanda Harrison
The whole point of this challenge is not only as a personal dream but also to honour Amy Johnson, who, when she started flying, built her confidence and expanded her horizons.
Private jet makes a good point. But it's the lack of candour in the TV presentation that discredits many of these expeditions for me, rather than the backup itself. As I said in my post before last above, viewers shouldn't be treated as both ignorant and gullible.
If the spectacle in the documentary is to be enhanced with air-to-air and ground-to-air shots, as opposed to the simple expedient of head-mounted and airframe-mounted mini-cameras, that's fair enough. If the team on the camera aircraft, in addition to flying ahead to prepare for photography at the next destination, takes the opportunity to make other arrangements such as HOTAC, diplomatic clearances, fuel, etc., before the star arrives there - fine. As the a/c will inevitably need repairs, sooner or later, after an arrival, why not include a flying spanner in the team? In the absence of an essential part, why wait for days or weeks in the middle of nowhere if the camera a/c can fly the hundreds of miles to obtain it? If the pilot-star needs the assistance of a co-pilot/instructor on some of the legs, I can even live with that.
However, some credit for the team and its less mundane inputs - without boring the pants off the viewers - should not seriously undermine the credibility of the presenter and his/her achievement. And if it does, so be it.
Amy Johnson flew genuinely alone, and with primitive equipment, as did several of her contemporaries of both sexes. Much more recently, Ellen MacArthur accomplished something perhaps even more remarkable - even allowing for the benefits of sophisticated kit and communications - non-stop in a boat. Not sure we'll see quite their like again, but maybe Johan Wiklund and Amanda Harrison will be worthy successors.
Following in the footsteps of the great pioneers can be no less interesting as entertainment when it is done with honesty and humility. Attention should be focused on the original achievement, not the star of a synthetic re-enactment.
If the spectacle in the documentary is to be enhanced with air-to-air and ground-to-air shots, as opposed to the simple expedient of head-mounted and airframe-mounted mini-cameras, that's fair enough. If the team on the camera aircraft, in addition to flying ahead to prepare for photography at the next destination, takes the opportunity to make other arrangements such as HOTAC, diplomatic clearances, fuel, etc., before the star arrives there - fine. As the a/c will inevitably need repairs, sooner or later, after an arrival, why not include a flying spanner in the team? In the absence of an essential part, why wait for days or weeks in the middle of nowhere if the camera a/c can fly the hundreds of miles to obtain it? If the pilot-star needs the assistance of a co-pilot/instructor on some of the legs, I can even live with that.
However, some credit for the team and its less mundane inputs - without boring the pants off the viewers - should not seriously undermine the credibility of the presenter and his/her achievement. And if it does, so be it.
Amy Johnson flew genuinely alone, and with primitive equipment, as did several of her contemporaries of both sexes. Much more recently, Ellen MacArthur accomplished something perhaps even more remarkable - even allowing for the benefits of sophisticated kit and communications - non-stop in a boat. Not sure we'll see quite their like again, but maybe Johan Wiklund and Amanda Harrison will be worthy successors.
Following in the footsteps of the great pioneers can be no less interesting as entertainment when it is done with honesty and humility. Attention should be focused on the original achievement, not the star of a synthetic re-enactment.
Yes that's a very good point.
I disliked the Palin "globetrotting travelogues" because it was always portrayed that he was alone on these trips when he obviously was not.
In fact on one of them I believe he came back to the UK between filming because his wife was poorly and receiving medical treatment. Nothing wrong with that of course but the finished piece made it look like one long epic trip. Somewhat disingenuous.
I disliked the Palin "globetrotting travelogues" because it was always portrayed that he was alone on these trips when he obviously was not.
In fact on one of them I believe he came back to the UK between filming because his wife was poorly and receiving medical treatment. Nothing wrong with that of course but the finished piece made it look like one long epic trip. Somewhat disingenuous.
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Rhys (your #54),
Sorry for the delay in this answer, but I rarely stray far from my PPRuNe habitat in "Military Aviation>Gaining a RAF Pilot's Brevet in WWII". The Stearman comes in at p.117 #2331 on that Thread. There is a fair amount about my time on them at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, FLA.
Sadly, I am no help in airframe numbers, as at Primary we only logged the dates of flights, and even in Basic and Advanced would only log the School-alloted numbers (eg "123") painted large to make the a/c easily identifiable.
Just had a hard look at the pic. We had a fixed-pitch metal prop on our Stearmans. Surely I can see a bob-weight on the hub here ? So it must be two-position (or even constant-speed ?). Is it even a 220 Continental ?
Cheers, Danny.
Sorry for the delay in this answer, but I rarely stray far from my PPRuNe habitat in "Military Aviation>Gaining a RAF Pilot's Brevet in WWII". The Stearman comes in at p.117 #2331 on that Thread. There is a fair amount about my time on them at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, FLA.
Sadly, I am no help in airframe numbers, as at Primary we only logged the dates of flights, and even in Basic and Advanced would only log the School-alloted numbers (eg "123") painted large to make the a/c easily identifiable.
Just had a hard look at the pic. We had a fixed-pitch metal prop on our Stearmans. Surely I can see a bob-weight on the hub here ? So it must be two-position (or even constant-speed ?). Is it even a 220 Continental ?
Cheers, Danny.
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Race2Darwin - Amanda Harrison
I also want to do it ‘the right way’! The only ‘sacrifice’ I’ve decided I have to accept (not without clear advantages as well of course) is bringing a simple aviation handheld GPS for the airspace. There are no VFR charts for 90% of the route, and I have no desire to cause ATC headaches as I fumble around blind.
Apart from that though, I want to do it in the truest way possible (including using local help for mechanicals, ground transport, accommodation etc. etc.). Not to mention carrying my luggage (current allowance on my last W&B is 5kgs, um, yeah!). Fuel or knickers, it’s an issue…
Apart from that though, I want to do it in the truest way possible (including using local help for mechanicals, ground transport, accommodation etc. etc.). Not to mention carrying my luggage (current allowance on my last W&B is 5kgs, um, yeah!). Fuel or knickers, it’s an issue…
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...and it's not a simple issue either.
The less fuel, the more likely you are to have need of spare pairs of knickers, so I presume that a competent mathematician might be able to offer you a formula by which the optimum fuel/knickers ratio can be found..?
The less fuel, the more likely you are to have need of spare pairs of knickers, so I presume that a competent mathematician might be able to offer you a formula by which the optimum fuel/knickers ratio can be found..?
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You could go without knickers, you certainly can't go without fuel! What you need is a lingerie sponsor to provide fresh skimpies at each tech stop.
If you manage to persuade Sutton to allow departure from the hallowed meadows of Croydon I'll come and see you off. Or wave if it has to be a fly past. I think you once marshalled a group of us on to a Rapide at Shoreham?
If you manage to persuade Sutton to allow departure from the hallowed meadows of Croydon I'll come and see you off. Or wave if it has to be a fly past. I think you once marshalled a group of us on to a Rapide at Shoreham?
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Race2Darwin
When you have been working towards a dream for so long, there is no way I was giving in. Having found some amazing sponsors, and an aeroplane I was half way there already. So never one to give in, it has now turned in a #Race2Darwin. Although I am doing the adventure solo flying and no support aircraft, flying the original route apart from Syria, even I lack the guts for that one, in a DE Havilland Moth, just like Amy Johnson, as I wish to pay true homage to my hero. 19 days is the target to bet.
Hi Amanda,
Well, apparently the opposition has only got as far as Cyprus...
Take care, and - to use a suitably old-fashioned expression - God speed!
Well, apparently the opposition has only got as far as Cyprus...
Take care, and - to use a suitably old-fashioned expression - God speed!
Last edited by Chris Scott; 19th Oct 2015 at 11:16. Reason: Typo