The Lady Who Flew Africa
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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The Lady Who Flew Africa
1937: Lores Bonney flew from Brisbane, Australia to Cape Town via Cairo becoming the first ever PILOT to make this record flight.
This was after she flew long distance from Brisbane to Wangaratta, Victoria setting a long distance record, then Around Australia "first woman", then Brisbane to England then ...
"...Lores Bonney's VH-UVE, 'My Little Ship II' variously described as a KL31, a KL32V or an Eagle, was registered in Dec. 1935. Lores Bonney flew VH-UVE from Australia to South Africa in this aircraft. It was destroyed in a hangar fire at Archerfield, Queensland, in June 1939".
Quite a remarkable aviation record.
This was after she flew long distance from Brisbane to Wangaratta, Victoria setting a long distance record, then Around Australia "first woman", then Brisbane to England then ...
"...Lores Bonney's VH-UVE, 'My Little Ship II' variously described as a KL31, a KL32V or an Eagle, was registered in Dec. 1935. Lores Bonney flew VH-UVE from Australia to South Africa in this aircraft. It was destroyed in a hangar fire at Archerfield, Queensland, in June 1939".
Quite a remarkable aviation record.
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: england
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Race2Darwin
The Race2Darwin is on......starting very soon from Duxford, the dream is about to begin!
Amanda's dream is to retrace the route that Amy Johnson flew solo in 1930. It was the first time a female pilot flew from London to Sydney solo, and it hasn’t been done since.
She also wants to do it ‘the right way’! She says: 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. The aircraft is a De Havilland Tiger Moth (sadly the Gipsy was too expensive!). The dream is to complete the route in the same 19 days as Amy did.
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…
See the route here:
Captain Amanda J Harrison | Race2Darwin| Tigermoth
Amanda's dream is to retrace the route that Amy Johnson flew solo in 1930. It was the first time a female pilot flew from London to Sydney solo, and it hasn’t been done since.
She also wants to do it ‘the right way’! She says: 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. The aircraft is a De Havilland Tiger Moth (sadly the Gipsy was too expensive!). The dream is to complete the route in the same 19 days as Amy did.
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…
See the route here:
Captain Amanda J Harrison | Race2Darwin| Tigermoth
It seems we have a recent arrival in Darwin.
Adventurer Tracey Curtis-Taylor's England-to-Australia solo flight a homage to aviation pioneer Amy Johnson - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Pity the video shows 2 heads in the aircraft on a "solo" flight
I also suspect she wasn't "where Amy Johnson touched down in 1930" unless she was in Parap, now a Darwin suburb and not at the current Darwin Airport.
Anyway, made it safely it would seem.
CC
Adventurer Tracey Curtis-Taylor's England-to-Australia solo flight a homage to aviation pioneer Amy Johnson - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Pity the video shows 2 heads in the aircraft on a "solo" flight
I also suspect she wasn't "where Amy Johnson touched down in 1930" unless she was in Parap, now a Darwin suburb and not at the current Darwin Airport.
Anyway, made it safely it would seem.
CC
Quote:
"Pity the video shows 2 heads in the aircraft on a "solo" flight"
Is Ms Curtis-Taylor now claiming to have flown the whole journey to Darwin solo, as per her stated mission - still included on her website: "...following in the slipstream of aviator Amy Johnson to recreate her pioneering solo flight from Great Britain to Australia" ?
Or is she merely allowing the media to assume that she did?
"Pity the video shows 2 heads in the aircraft on a "solo" flight"
Is Ms Curtis-Taylor now claiming to have flown the whole journey to Darwin solo, as per her stated mission - still included on her website: "...following in the slipstream of aviator Amy Johnson to recreate her pioneering solo flight from Great Britain to Australia" ?
Or is she merely allowing the media to assume that she did?
Surely yes, if she is proposing to fly it solo! But no doubt it is at the whim of her sponsors, who will naturally be influenced by the projected TV documentary on Ms Curtis-Taylor's journey.
"Tracey Curtis Taylor days away from completing 13,000 mile solo flight"
Quote from brakedwell:
"Air to air overage on Southern BBC news last night showed Tracey's Stearman passing over several en-route landmarks with two people on board."
Likewise on the early-evening and late-evening ITV national news (UK, Thursday). The TV report (now available in what seems to be a shorterned version (?) on the ITV website) by its top reporter-newscaster, Mark Austin, shows him having a ride in the Stearman with Ms Curtis-Taylor before her departure from the UK. (So that at least was an unassisted flight.) There is mention of delays due to re-routings, and implication of further incidents en-route to Darwin. The a/c had arrived in Australia, the report said, "just-about intact."
All the en-route footage of the Stearman in flight clearly shows two heads on board. Interviewed at Ayers Rock (?), the photogenic aviatrix plays down her achievement in comparison with that of Amy Johnson: "I haven't got close to reproducing that."
The report does not claim specifically that her flight has been solo, but there is no mention of any assistance from a second pilot. Most viewers, I think, would infer that she has flown the Stearman solo, as one might from a visit to the report on the ITV website, which includes the following:
"She herself had a small support crew following her flight - which Johnson did not - which recorded her adventure for a documentary series retelling the story of early aviation."
As I write, the website report is entitled:
"British pilot Tracey Curtis Taylor days away from completing 13,000 mile solo flight"
"Air to air overage on Southern BBC news last night showed Tracey's Stearman passing over several en-route landmarks with two people on board."
Likewise on the early-evening and late-evening ITV national news (UK, Thursday). The TV report (now available in what seems to be a shorterned version (?) on the ITV website) by its top reporter-newscaster, Mark Austin, shows him having a ride in the Stearman with Ms Curtis-Taylor before her departure from the UK. (So that at least was an unassisted flight.) There is mention of delays due to re-routings, and implication of further incidents en-route to Darwin. The a/c had arrived in Australia, the report said, "just-about intact."
All the en-route footage of the Stearman in flight clearly shows two heads on board. Interviewed at Ayers Rock (?), the photogenic aviatrix plays down her achievement in comparison with that of Amy Johnson: "I haven't got close to reproducing that."
The report does not claim specifically that her flight has been solo, but there is no mention of any assistance from a second pilot. Most viewers, I think, would infer that she has flown the Stearman solo, as one might from a visit to the report on the ITV website, which includes the following:
"She herself had a small support crew following her flight - which Johnson did not - which recorded her adventure for a documentary series retelling the story of early aviation."
As I write, the website report is entitled:
"British pilot Tracey Curtis Taylor days away from completing 13,000 mile solo flight"
Last edited by Chris Scott; 8th Jan 2016 at 11:23. Reason: Title and last paragraph added.
"Tracey Curtis-Taylor finishes UK to Australia biplane flight" - BBC
Tracey Curtis-Taylor finishes UK to Australia biplane flight - BBC News
"A British adventurer has completed an epic 14,600-nautical mile flight from the UK to Australia in a vintage open cockpit bi-plane."
"Some early reports suggested it was a solo flight - Ms Curtis-Taylor was the only pilot to fly the vintage bi-plane, but she had a support team of engineers travelling with her in a separate aircraft, as well as a camera crew, who would sometimes sit in with her."
"A British adventurer has completed an epic 14,600-nautical mile flight from the UK to Australia in a vintage open cockpit bi-plane."
"Some early reports suggested it was a solo flight - Ms Curtis-Taylor was the only pilot to fly the vintage bi-plane, but she had a support team of engineers travelling with her in a separate aircraft, as well as a camera crew, who would sometimes sit in with her."
Join Date: Jun 2014
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Oh dear, dear, Chris - you are so cynical.
You see, the problem really lies with her over-enthusiastic publicity manager - you know what those people can be like.
Seems she can't really do anything with him .. (or without him, for that matter).
You see, the problem really lies with her over-enthusiastic publicity manager - you know what those people can be like.
Seems she can't really do anything with him .. (or without him, for that matter).
Yes, the Stearman has been brilliant! It's so much more robust and comfortable than a Gipsy Moth, or even a Tiger...
Must admit that I've absolutely no inside information on how this operation has been conducted: am merely an observer of the media reports and - occasionally - her website. Never having been involved in anything remotely comparable myself, I recognise the journey as an admirable achievement, and I shall no doubt watch and enjoy the forthcoming TV documentary.
I very much hope, however, that it will present her remarkable trek with a degree of candour that will not provoke aviation anoraks like us to shout at our televisions, or grossly deceive the general public into thinking that she has replicated Amy Johnson's flight as well as anyone could in the constraints of the present day.
The problem for the team now is that the advantages of encouraging - or at least allowing - the media to report this as a solo flight might be more than outweighed by the negative effects of any admission to the contrary. And the solo description lingers on. Following this morning's interview with Nick Robinson for BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current-affairs programme, Today, this is what the programme's website is currently reporting:
"British aviation adventurer, Tracey Curtis-Taylor has completed a 13,000 mile solo flight from Britain to Australia in a vintage open cockpit biplane. The 53 year-old set off from Hampshire in October. She has emulated the pioneering British aviator, Amy Johnson, who became the first woman to fly solo between the two countries in 1930."
Must admit that I've absolutely no inside information on how this operation has been conducted: am merely an observer of the media reports and - occasionally - her website. Never having been involved in anything remotely comparable myself, I recognise the journey as an admirable achievement, and I shall no doubt watch and enjoy the forthcoming TV documentary.
I very much hope, however, that it will present her remarkable trek with a degree of candour that will not provoke aviation anoraks like us to shout at our televisions, or grossly deceive the general public into thinking that she has replicated Amy Johnson's flight as well as anyone could in the constraints of the present day.
The problem for the team now is that the advantages of encouraging - or at least allowing - the media to report this as a solo flight might be more than outweighed by the negative effects of any admission to the contrary. And the solo description lingers on. Following this morning's interview with Nick Robinson for BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current-affairs programme, Today, this is what the programme's website is currently reporting:
"British aviation adventurer, Tracey Curtis-Taylor has completed a 13,000 mile solo flight from Britain to Australia in a vintage open cockpit biplane. The 53 year-old set off from Hampshire in October. She has emulated the pioneering British aviator, Amy Johnson, who became the first woman to fly solo between the two countries in 1930."