Maurice Kirk hows he doing?? (Merged)
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Maurice Kirk hows he doing??
Can,t find outhow the Maurice Kirk is doing in his intrepid flight the official race site contains no news and his own site has no update beyond 30th.March.anyone know??He is the only interesting thing about the whole race!!.Saw a post in the Auzies whinging section of this site demanding he be grounded for poor maintenance which seemed to imply he,d reached the penal colony.If so great and somewhat ironic for Maurice, makes you proud to be British.Good job we are not all the same long live the little guy!!.
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This from 'another race crew'
As we approached Sydney there was a problem, which threatened our onward
clearance into Sydney Harbour. The problem was in the form of a light
aircraft, only known to Sydney ATC courtesy of their radar, which was
orbiting the harbour, in controlled airspace, and in our way! Of the various
helicopters in the area to film the flypast only one could identify the
Piper Cub at about 500ft!! Bloody Maurice!!
In the end, and just in time, radio contact was established and the irritant
was dismissed from the area.
Kirk's website is at http://www.kirkflyingvet.co.uk
As we approached Sydney there was a problem, which threatened our onward
clearance into Sydney Harbour. The problem was in the form of a light
aircraft, only known to Sydney ATC courtesy of their radar, which was
orbiting the harbour, in controlled airspace, and in our way! Of the various
helicopters in the area to film the flypast only one could identify the
Piper Cub at about 500ft!! Bloody Maurice!!
In the end, and just in time, radio contact was established and the irritant
was dismissed from the area.
Kirk's website is at http://www.kirkflyingvet.co.uk
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Great news!! thanks for replying chaps I,m off globetrotting at present so news is hard to come by, did eventually see a clip of Maurice in Sydney on the BBC world TV news .What a great British eccentric and what a superb achievement in a J3 cub "real flying" I can identify with.Obviously a little bit of a thorn in the side of the organisers and I suspect some of the other contestants!!.The man should be knighted for that flight but I,m damn sure he won,t be.He ruffles he feathers of the establishment to much.Well done Maurice and anyone know how he and the Cub are returning?.
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Pasted from the other forums (fora??)
Update: Maurice Kirk arrived at Bankstown at about 11:15 on Saturday morning. He was the first of The Air Race aircraft to arrive. Unfortunately his reputation must have preceded him and he was denied the opportunity of joining the mass flypast over Sydney Harbour by refusal of a clearance by Sydney ATC, combined with physical exclusion by the Police helicopters.
From Dunnunda: PPRUNE TOWERS and Chimbu: Good to see that someone at least is prepared to acknowledge the man and his achievement.
Criticism and xenophobia (for the lack of a word to describe an irrational fear of the ex-colonial power), obviously blinds many to the achievement of a man who has flown this machine half way around the world. Fullscale, you chose your name wisely mate; your deflection really is full-scale!
Look a bit further than your petty questions about locking wire, and be in awe! Would you have even considered doing this in a Cub, no matter how it was maintained, with NO navaids (or other aids come to that!)? Somehow I doubt it. You may shoot me down in flames if you have an equivalent achievement. You may not be aware, but in some of the places where that machine has taken him, LAMEs are not immediately at hand.
In any case, the best efforts of the enforcement authorities have been expended previously, and have signally failed to subdue the man. He is one of life's real and colourful characters!
For information he is also a very good vet., and a real pilot - that's a PILOT, not an operator of an aircraft and pusher of buttons. As VP8 says he IS a legend - maybe for some of the wrong reasons, but a legend nonetheless. I also enjoyed chatting with some of the other race pilots; great blokes and all with interesting tales to tell. While it's an achievement to fly, for example, a Malibu Mirage half way round the world, it's equipped with every mod-con up to EFIS type display. How can one compare that to Maurice's performance?
Anyway that's my twopennorth!
As to the return trip: it is likely the bureaucrats and their activities have discouraged him from the return trip and the aircraft will be returned in a box.
Update: Maurice Kirk arrived at Bankstown at about 11:15 on Saturday morning. He was the first of The Air Race aircraft to arrive. Unfortunately his reputation must have preceded him and he was denied the opportunity of joining the mass flypast over Sydney Harbour by refusal of a clearance by Sydney ATC, combined with physical exclusion by the Police helicopters.
From Dunnunda: PPRUNE TOWERS and Chimbu: Good to see that someone at least is prepared to acknowledge the man and his achievement.
Criticism and xenophobia (for the lack of a word to describe an irrational fear of the ex-colonial power), obviously blinds many to the achievement of a man who has flown this machine half way around the world. Fullscale, you chose your name wisely mate; your deflection really is full-scale!
Look a bit further than your petty questions about locking wire, and be in awe! Would you have even considered doing this in a Cub, no matter how it was maintained, with NO navaids (or other aids come to that!)? Somehow I doubt it. You may shoot me down in flames if you have an equivalent achievement. You may not be aware, but in some of the places where that machine has taken him, LAMEs are not immediately at hand.
In any case, the best efforts of the enforcement authorities have been expended previously, and have signally failed to subdue the man. He is one of life's real and colourful characters!
For information he is also a very good vet., and a real pilot - that's a PILOT, not an operator of an aircraft and pusher of buttons. As VP8 says he IS a legend - maybe for some of the wrong reasons, but a legend nonetheless. I also enjoyed chatting with some of the other race pilots; great blokes and all with interesting tales to tell. While it's an achievement to fly, for example, a Malibu Mirage half way round the world, it's equipped with every mod-con up to EFIS type display. How can one compare that to Maurice's performance?
Anyway that's my twopennorth!
As to the return trip: it is likely the bureaucrats and their activities have discouraged him from the return trip and the aircraft will be returned in a box.
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Brave nutter??
An incredible man whose book would be a best seller for sure if he ever wrote one.
Why isn't he seen on TV? Parky ought to interview him. The public at large know little about Maurice and really ought to know more.
OK, his flying might be considered a little unorthodox but he does get there......
I met him at G-VFWE, camping with his little girl. Fascinating man. You couldn't miss him with his anti CAA-sloganed top hat
I don't understand why he is so confrontational with the CAA because flying is so important to him - like 'mooning' in front of a cop?
So.........knighthood??
Er...nope. Not in a million years.
Time off for good behaviour?
Er....no again.
Looking forward to the next instalment.
HP
Why isn't he seen on TV? Parky ought to interview him. The public at large know little about Maurice and really ought to know more.
OK, his flying might be considered a little unorthodox but he does get there......
I met him at G-VFWE, camping with his little girl. Fascinating man. You couldn't miss him with his anti CAA-sloganed top hat
I don't understand why he is so confrontational with the CAA because flying is so important to him - like 'mooning' in front of a cop?
So.........knighthood??
Er...nope. Not in a million years.
Time off for good behaviour?
Er....no again.
Looking forward to the next instalment.
HP
Many years ago when I was working at Gatwick I was approached by the top judge in Guernsey who was in quite a state. I was despatching a Guernsey Airlines/BAF VC8 to GCI and he was asking me to offload Mr Kirk from the flight. The reason was that the last time he sentenced Mr Kirk for being 'drunk and disorderly' (his phrase not mine!!) the response from Maurice Kirk had been that if they ever flew on the same aircraft between UK and GCI, Maurice would heave him out of the plane over the sea!!!
I went on board, told the Captain, and then went to speak with Maurice. He agreed that he had made the threat and his eyes lit up when he realised that the bloke was travelling. I asked him to bear in mind the safety of the other pax and crew and to promise not to carry out the threat. Initially he was reluctant to do this, but when I explained that I could understand why he disliked the weasly official so much and that if he didn't promise to behave he would have to be offloaded, he made his promise not to harm anyone. The fact that it was G-AOYP, named Viscount Stephen Piercey after the flight photographer, was the clincher.
The Captain and I were happy that he was a man of his word and let him travel. I understand that the weasel was met by a car airside at GCI and whisked away before Mr Kirk could get to him!!
I went on board, told the Captain, and then went to speak with Maurice. He agreed that he had made the threat and his eyes lit up when he realised that the bloke was travelling. I asked him to bear in mind the safety of the other pax and crew and to promise not to carry out the threat. Initially he was reluctant to do this, but when I explained that I could understand why he disliked the weasly official so much and that if he didn't promise to behave he would have to be offloaded, he made his promise not to harm anyone. The fact that it was G-AOYP, named Viscount Stephen Piercey after the flight photographer, was the clincher.
The Captain and I were happy that he was a man of his word and let him travel. I understand that the weasel was met by a car airside at GCI and whisked away before Mr Kirk could get to him!!
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Viscount Stephen Piercey is G-APIM. Currently at Brooklands Museum...I work on it occasionally...or at least I did when it was outside the hangar. Now waiting for electricity to be fed to the old car park where it's now parked. G-AOYP is/was Viscount Corbiere.
Last edited by Paul_Sengupta; 19th Nov 2004 at 18:19.
Drat and double drat.................. I knew as I typed it that I'd got the reggie wrong but couldn't get the grey matter to work out the correct one!!!!!!
thks Paul for correcting me; the rest of the story is factual though
thks Paul for correcting me; the rest of the story is factual though
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Maurice Kirk 2005 update
Noticed the threads here on Maurice Kirk and the London to Sydney Air Race, thought some of you maybe interested to know that he's back in business and has gone on from Sydney to attempt a circumnavigation of the globe. Currently him and Liberty Girl are enroute to Hong Kong.
His website has also been upgraded, revamped etc over at http://www.kirkflyingvet.com with a lot of new stuff going up daily.
Cheers,
PIE
His website has also been upgraded, revamped etc over at http://www.kirkflyingvet.com with a lot of new stuff going up daily.
Cheers,
PIE
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Maurice Kirk on the move across Indochina
Hi,
For those who followed Maurice Kirk's progress in the London Sydney Air Race on the forums some years back, you may be interested to know he's up in the air again.
His ambition this time is to circumnavigate the globe from where he left off in Sydney. Round New Zealand and the Tasman Sea to Darwin have been completed, now he's headed towards China via Malaysia, Philippines and Tawain in 'Liberty Girl' a World War 2 Piper Cub.
You can follow his adventure (diary, photos, video etc) on his new website www.kirkflyingvet.com.
Cheers,
Pie
For those who followed Maurice Kirk's progress in the London Sydney Air Race on the forums some years back, you may be interested to know he's up in the air again.
His ambition this time is to circumnavigate the globe from where he left off in Sydney. Round New Zealand and the Tasman Sea to Darwin have been completed, now he's headed towards China via Malaysia, Philippines and Tawain in 'Liberty Girl' a World War 2 Piper Cub.
You can follow his adventure (diary, photos, video etc) on his new website www.kirkflyingvet.com.
Cheers,
Pie
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One part of me thinks "should we be applauding and supporting such an arrogant ****wit", but a greater part appreciates that without such people, aviation would be an extremely dull place.
Whatever, I hope he gets back in one piece.
Whatever, I hope he gets back in one piece.
