Auxtank

All very interesting. I've spent the entire afternoon reading the Threads on here, and exploring the exterior links, etc.

I'm a bl**dy old fashioned pilot, with a lot of wind under the wings, and as far as I see it; if someone says they're Solo; that doesn't mean they have a Production Ship following close behind and a copilot in the seat in front.

All together a rather depressing story of how these young upstarts (know everything "Startups") seem to think they can steam roller over what constitutes an act of excellent Airmanship, replace it with a publicity stunt and then, with the correct legal process; have it authorised and made legitimate.

That's not how I remember the great pioneers of aviation and in my humble opinion the LAA should, very concisely, uphold their motion of the AGM 2016.

SATCOS WHIPPING BOY

This will be my last post for a while now. I think all that I can say has been said and so will leave it to the LAA to conduct their affairs as they see fit. If anything fresh surfaces then I will of course share it and / or join in the debate.

Sam Rutherford has summed it up nicely over on the main LAA forum with this :

It's really very simple, and has nothing to do with gender but everything to do with behaviour. It is also not personal - it's simply about right and wrong.
Tracey lied about 'solo' during the Africa trip in 2013, she is still lying today in 2018.
Should this behaviour even be accepted, let alone celebrated with awards, medals and trophies? I guess that's the fundamental question that is looking for an answer.

From what I have seen these past few years Sam has never changed his story - consistent throughout.
On the other hand Tracey and team have so many versions of their stories that it really is a mess to unravel. My mum used to say "Son, liars have to have good memories"

Make up your own minds, read through the various online articles, listen to the audio recordings, watch the videos. Ask your friends and fellow flyers that have first-hand experience of this, ask around at Old Warden and Shuttleworth and then decide. Get it clear in your mind that what you do is right (either way) and get those postal/proxy votes in.

Out for now
SWB

Clare Prop

As a female who has managed to get through 30 years and 13000 hours of professional flying without having encountered any "misogyny" towards myself or any of my female colleagues or being "blocked" from anything I was qualified to do because of my gender her radio interview made me cringe. She doesn't represent anyone but herself.

I don't know much about Lady Heath or her flight but I understood that it was planned to avoid Libya, is that correct Sam? That slide seems to show a little aeroplane icon going over Libya. *confused*

Personally I think all this is an act of revenge designed to cause divisions in the LAA and it's certainly working. Will there be any more jolly photoshoots with the royal Patron?

I would like to ask Tracey if the film is still in post production or awaiting the result of the AGM for the final edit.

(The other Clare Prop)

kghjfg

Cows getting bigger

I'm wondering how TCT became an Honorary Lt Cdr in the RNR. Is there a link with the Honorary Rear Admiral Royal Naval Reserve and Commodore-in-Chief of the Maritime Reserve, who also happens to be Patron of the LAA?

S205-18F

In the Ambulance Service we have a lot of contact with the press and obviously we see the articles in the news, which we attended! We some times have to ask our colleagues if that was the same incident we attended as the reports do not even come close to what happened! I challenged one reporter and his tongue in cheek reply was " Why let the truth spoil a good story" I walked away shaking my head!!
John.

clareprop

I don't think this has been shown on this thread before. Dec 2013.

The description: 'British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives at Goodwood Aerodrome after her epic journey flying her restored Boeing Stearman bi-plane from Cape Town to Goodwood over a 2 month period.' At 0.43s, ATC says, 'Congratulations on your epic journey'
Quite obviously, as the aircraft arrives on the ramp, there are two people in it. The occupant of the front-cockpit is not a cameraman. The film then cuts and we see him no more...

Gonzo

it’s truly amazing.

Anyone who has 30 minutes to spare can go back through her Facebook page, to 2016 and earlier, where she has posted and shared many stories from various sources which all seem to have the word ‘solo’ featuring quite prominently.

If only Facebook allowed the sharer to also write a short note for people to read, such as ‘sorry folks, these media people have got the wrong end of the stick again. Everybody knows I wasn’t solo and I did tell them, repeatedly. They just refused to listen to me.’

Oh, hang on......

Clare Prop

"If you hadn’t been flying solo, who would have been your ideal co-pilot?

Although this was primarily a solo flight, certainly at the outset, I often took members of the crew and sponsors with me"

No mention of Ewald

Q & A with Tracey Curtis Taylor | UK aircraft flight tests and pilot profiles | Pilot Magazine

B Fraser

You may also wish to google the Honorary Air Marshall of RAF Benson which may provide the answer to where the set of RAF wings came from. I'm sure he must have a few old uniforms that are surplus to requirements.

pilotmike

From the Pilot article linked above:

"I had a support aircraft (Cessna Caravan) and for the most part a fantastic team which included the chase pilot, a logistics manager, an engineer, and a four-man film crew. In terms of my own personal preparation, in truth I did very little." Possibly the most truthful statement heard from T C_T.

Remind me what exactly the disputed award was for, if it wasn't for a widely marketed 'solo' trip that turned out not to be solo?

I love the rearward-facing picture of both pilots flying out over the coast with Ewald's pesky headset stubbornly refusing to get out of shot, ruining an otherwise perfect 'solo' shot.

Despite Ewald turning up like a bad penny in most of the photographs of the flights, he wasn't listed as one of her preferred 'passengers' she wanted to take, which included Bill Sykes, Ian Craig, Prince Harry and Rick McCrary. How thoroughly inconvenient having to put up with Ewald as her last choice 'passenger' for the vast majority of the flights that, by her own admission, she did "very little" preparation for!

A cynic would be forgiven for suggesting that choosing him could have been influenced by his qualifications, experience and skill-set (ATPL, Stearman owner and builder, instructor, navigator, engineer, invisibility cloak when required, sticking to the published story that had grown too big to be allowed to fail, aversion to being in the limelight in direct contrast to T C_T's apparent inability to survive away from it, etc, etc.)

Oh how this story keeps on giving and giving - a victory of ego and desperation for recognition and adoration over honesty and common sense!

rog747

The Award bestowed by the LAA to TCT in 2014 was the Bill Woodhams Trophy for outstanding feats of navigation, aviation, tenacity and endurance...

With the deciding factors known at the time, the Awards committee gave her the prize in all good faith it seems, that her flight's navigation from CPT to the UK was done ''alone'' and in the spirit of the ''old days'' of Lady Heath about 90 years ago.
(Lady Heath probably busted levels to look at nice waterfalls, lakes, flamingos, and big Colonial houses on the way)
If that were all true then the prize perhaps would be correct.

Ah, but now we, and everyone else knows differently...Yes TCT undertook a rather long single engined biplane jaunt across Continents, and made a rather nice watchable BBC TV documentary about the journey but -
TCT was accompanied for that trip by a back-up team, including crew, engineering, operations, go-fors, sponsors & media. Thus NOT a SOLO flight nor solo achievements.

Haraka

It is apparent that the ongoing exposure of this continued blatant deception is like water off a duck's back.The latest example being the Cape to U,K.backdrop ,( N.B. TCT on the current BBC podcast describing it as “ambiguous and in fact referring to the flight of Lady Mary Heath" ) with the truth being self evident and imaged on #4412 above.
If a few respond to the BBC's podcast then I can see it being touted by team TC-T as "only a few trolls", if many then, "proof of a big campaign orchestrated by misogynists against a woman aviator"
As with so many "reality" type enterprises in the media the truth is not allowed to get in the way of the "pap' peddled to an uninformed audience centred on "personalities".
I would venture to suggest that such posturing does not fall naturally into the honesty culture prevalent in most of those who are involved in aviation.
At best such behaviour causes doubt and uncertainty -at worst it costs lives,
The LAA Committee has to decide where it's moral compass truly points and then act accordingly as an example to, and in the interests of, its wider membership.

hoodie

It is not down to the LAA Committee or the Board; that is all water under the bridge now.

It is down to Members voting, counted on the 21st.

Haraka

Hoodie
I was implying the resultant expulsion option ........

Clare Prop

A rainy day googling has brought up many references to this as a solo flight, including articles she posted herself on her facebook page.

I have to wonder, were these organisations in on it were they duped as well?
https://amyjohnsonproject.org/news/t...ght-australia/

https://www.businessairportinternati...xpedition.html

Boeing: Boeing Supporting Curtis-Taylor's S. Africa-to-UK Flight in Vintage Biplane

pilotmike

Sadly, she is displaying much too much tenacity, clutching at straws and trying to cling on to the accolade of the trophy award. How much longer will everyone have to endure all the tall stories and now the pitiful tales of woe about how she's been completely misunderstood?

By her own admission, there was little if anything worthy of mention by way of navigation, except repeated stories of how airspace was busted and she was reprimanded for disgraceful disregard for procedures, navigational errors, especially considering she had such modern GNSS navigation equipment on board, and an ATPL to assist her!

Certainly, there was lots of aviation, this was clearly a very well funded jolly at other people's expense. But then again, almost every ordinary member of the LAA also does lots of aviation. The glaring difference is they generally do it at their own expense, and they don't make a big song and dance about it, expecting to pick up trophies and to be worshipped and adored for it. Possibly the big mistake has been to allow aviation to be confused with airmanship, of which T C_T has displayed very little to be proud about, by her very own admissions and well publicised crashes.

Others have said elsewhere, T C_T appears to have perfected the art of ingratiating herself with high net-worth and influential individuals, invariably men. There must be some highly gullible old men about to have fallen for her charms seemingly becoming bewitched under her spell.

All the more extraordinary, considering how often she openly denigrates and slags off men, whilst regularly playing the worn out sexist card to whip up pity for a vulnerable flower that somehow nevertheless achieves greatness, alone, by herself, despite being downtrodden by mean and nasty men, whilst inexplicably referring to herself as the 'Bird'.

Hopefully, the majority of LAA voters won't be the 'misogynistic old men' she so despises, and they won't simply be spellbound by her words or charm. Hopefully they'll see through the spin, the charm, the BS and the lies. Hopefully they'll be able to spot the link between the threats and the timing of the desperate media campaign for the re-awarding of this trophy ahead of the film release, and they'll vote accordingly, with integrity and honour - qualities which seem sadly lacking in most of the information released from the 'Bird' and its various mouthpieces.

Right Hand Thread

hoodie

Well, I may be in the minority (I hope not) but I do not care. It's a trivial bit of history, it is a distraction to the major issue and - most of all - addressing it now has the potential to start up yet another witchhunt against the LAA leadership. That will have two results - it will make it even harder to find volunteers in the future, and it will obscure the main thrust of the Motions at the AGM. I think for the good of the LAA it is a mistake to follow that course.

airpolice

For the the time when she carries out her promise to answer questions.

Did the !he "Chase Plane" also infringe the restricted airspace, or just the Stearman?

If not, why not? Airmanship by the chase Pilot?