Tracey Curtis-Taylor (Merged threads)
Not sure if document numbers have changed but it used to be in AP1358. Something along the lines of badges is mentioned about aircrew brevet (if awarded).
A current serving member of the RAF/RN/AAC might be able to shed more light and accuracy as to the legalities of a civilian wearing such a badge.
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Simply zooming in on any of those pictures confirms that Ms Curtis-Taylor appears to be wearing RAF wings.
This article would suggest that, unless she has earned the right to wear those wings, she may be breaking the law.
This article would suggest that, unless she has earned the right to wear those wings, she may be breaking the law.
The Army Act (1955) makes it illegal to impersonate a member of the armed forces. The act makes wearing any military decoration, badge or other insignia without authority a criminal offence.
but she was trained by military pilots.
She said so herself so it must be true.
Edited to add: As far as I can gather the Army Act 1955 has been superseded by the Armed Forces Act 2006 and perhaps numerous amendments. It is late now but I cannot see any reference in the new Act to the illegalities of wearing medals, badges, decorations. It must be in there somewhere as this guy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8454715.stm was found guilty of a medal wearing offence and ordered to do community service.
She said so herself so it must be true.
Edited to add: As far as I can gather the Army Act 1955 has been superseded by the Armed Forces Act 2006 and perhaps numerous amendments. It is late now but I cannot see any reference in the new Act to the illegalities of wearing medals, badges, decorations. It must be in there somewhere as this guy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8454715.stm was found guilty of a medal wearing offence and ordered to do community service.
Last edited by SATCOS WHIPPING BOY; 29th Sep 2016 at 23:20.
Thread Starter
Looking forward a few weeks it is easy to see why her connections will give her a Masters Medal.
Here she is at a gathering of the upper echelons of flying and the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
From the left is Paul Tacon,clerk to HCAP,Rick Peackock Edwards who heads the awards committe at the Honourable,Company of Air Pilots. Next to him is Dorothy Saul Pooley who is also a high ranking officer in the HCAP. Then we have Tracey Curtis Taylor flanked on the right by her big friend retired actress Diana Rigg,extreme right is Peter Owen from the RAF club.
Now call me a cynic but looking at that picture do you think Tracey will get her Masters Medal
.
Here she is at a gathering of the upper echelons of flying and the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
From the left is Paul Tacon,clerk to HCAP,Rick Peackock Edwards who heads the awards committe at the Honourable,Company of Air Pilots. Next to him is Dorothy Saul Pooley who is also a high ranking officer in the HCAP. Then we have Tracey Curtis Taylor flanked on the right by her big friend retired actress Diana Rigg,extreme right is Peter Owen from the RAF club.
Now call me a cynic but looking at that picture do you think Tracey will get her Masters Medal
.
Last edited by Mike Flynn; 29th Sep 2016 at 23:54.
Well, my honest answer is yes, I think she will. The citation will be worded in such a way to justify the award and this will undermine the achievements of all past and future winners.
Same with the LAA one, that too will be discussed at the AGM but I can see it going nowhere.
It is in the hands of HCAP and the LAA to do the right thing now as I cannot see her stepping up, showing any integrity, and declining the awards.
It is clear that she is fully deserving of an OBE, and that will be next. (OBE Other Bugger's Efforts).
I have very little piloting skills myself but I could have done what she did if I had Ewald up front to do the tricky stuff. I can fly in a straight line, I can follow a GPS, and I can spin a good yarn. I do believe that comment from him is crucial one way or the other.
Same with the LAA one, that too will be discussed at the AGM but I can see it going nowhere.
It is in the hands of HCAP and the LAA to do the right thing now as I cannot see her stepping up, showing any integrity, and declining the awards.
It is clear that she is fully deserving of an OBE, and that will be next. (OBE Other Bugger's Efforts).
I have very little piloting skills myself but I could have done what she did if I had Ewald up front to do the tricky stuff. I can fly in a straight line, I can follow a GPS, and I can spin a good yarn. I do believe that comment from him is crucial one way or the other.
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I do believe that comment from him [Ewald] is crucial one way or the other.
" and "I've got it!
". Perhaps after saying each to her many times, he's tired of talking about the venture anyway.....
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On the subject of Wings,I am told that ( the practice in Commonwealth countries) is that any " honorary service wings" that are given is worn on the RIGHT,never on the left. Only wings that have been earned through rigorous flight training in that particular service may be worn on the left of its uniform. So if TCT was given an honorary wing,it should be worn on the Right side of her flying overall. But if she has no links to the RAF, its strange that she's wearing a RAF wing.
This information may be inaccurate but I have seen a similar practice in Asian airforces ,where the practise of awarding honorary wings to top military leaders is just part of their "informal diplomacy".
Cheers
This information may be inaccurate but I have seen a similar practice in Asian airforces ,where the practise of awarding honorary wings to top military leaders is just part of their "informal diplomacy".
Cheers
I also note that the RAF Flying Badge which That Woman is wearing is surmounted by a king's crown, rather than a queen's crown. So it must be at least 64 years old and cannot have been issued later than 10 years before she was born....
Is it an honorary badge, first issued to her father or grandfather?
Is it an honorary badge, first issued to her father or grandfather?
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Looking forward a few weeks it is easy to see why her connections will give her a Masters Medal.
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Having met Polly Vacher a few years back, I was impressed by her modesty.
I see that her MBE was for services to charity prior to some of her more noteworthy flights.
TCT could learn something from that
I see that her MBE was for services to charity prior to some of her more noteworthy flights.
TCT could learn something from that
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Pilot marks 800th ocean crossing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay - Newfoundland & Labrador - CBC News
This lady could teach all of them the way to do it. Barely mentioned in despatches.....
This lady could teach all of them the way to do it. Barely mentioned in despatches.....
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BEagle,
Well spotted...nothing wrong with your eyesight.
What a bloody cheek she has, and what an insult to those who have actually earned the right and honour to wear their wings with pride.
Is it illegal? Does anyone know for sure?
Well spotted...nothing wrong with your eyesight.
What a bloody cheek she has, and what an insult to those who have actually earned the right and honour to wear their wings with pride.
Is it illegal? Does anyone know for sure?
Did you spot the tail modification on that flight that she describes in that article, then?
Waltz went back to work flying ferry flights just one week after giving birth, and rather than leaving her daughter at home, she took her along.
She said owners, dealers and family members are often waiting for the plane, and rather than landing with dirty diapers on board, she had to take desperate action.
"I thought, 'Well, with all the pollution going on in the world, one little newborn diaper is not going to kill the world if I toss it in the North Sea,'" she said.
"I slowed the plane down, opened the storm window, and tossed the diaper out, the dirty one, and of course, never thought about it."
When Waltz landed, however, she had a surprise waiting for her.
"The way the wind was, it just blew the diaper to the tail of the plane and just freeze-dried it right on it," she said.
"I was so embarassed."
She said owners, dealers and family members are often waiting for the plane, and rather than landing with dirty diapers on board, she had to take desperate action.
"I thought, 'Well, with all the pollution going on in the world, one little newborn diaper is not going to kill the world if I toss it in the North Sea,'" she said.
"I slowed the plane down, opened the storm window, and tossed the diaper out, the dirty one, and of course, never thought about it."
When Waltz landed, however, she had a surprise waiting for her.
"The way the wind was, it just blew the diaper to the tail of the plane and just freeze-dried it right on it," she said.
"I was so embarassed."
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Who cares whether it is illegal? The point is that people have given their lives in the pursuit of the RAF Pilot Brevet, many have died wearing the brevet, they have been hunted, captured, tortured and executed because they wore the brevet. RAF Pilots wings, as with those of other services, represent far far more than just being a pilot. They represent excellence, selflessness and heroism, being worn with pride and honouring those that have been before, together with those that belong to the exclusive club. TCT does not belong to that club and her wearing of the brevet indicates an naivety, ignorance or arrogance that is not becoming of someone who peddles their trade as a global representative of aviation.
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CGB: 
In reply to
I'm pretty sure it is: see my earlier post and the response to it. Either the Army Act or the subsequent Armed Forces Act would seem to apply.
As I said in an even earlier post: I've had the privilege of flying with WW2 aircrew veterans who, perhaps more than anyone, have earned the right to wear those wings the hard way; and it turns my stomach to see someone pretend to have earned them.
Of course, it may be that Ms Curtis-Taylor really has earned them. If so, perhaps she or someone in her team will take the trouble to say so and provide some evidence? I'm not holding my breath.....
In reply to
Is it illegal? Does anyone know for sure?
As I said in an even earlier post: I've had the privilege of flying with WW2 aircrew veterans who, perhaps more than anyone, have earned the right to wear those wings the hard way; and it turns my stomach to see someone pretend to have earned them.
Of course, it may be that Ms Curtis-Taylor really has earned them. If so, perhaps she or someone in her team will take the trouble to say so and provide some evidence? I'm not holding my breath.....
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So then...
Who, ultimately, are going to end up the winners (and losers) out of all this, I wonder?
The schemers, funny-handshakers and backslappers seem to have convinced themselves that they're going to get away with it.
"How could I have been expected to know? .. It came to me in an official 'Bird in a Biplane' press-release" etc, etc.
Or, forehead-smackingly, in the Royal Navy's case, as we've just seen .. "I read it on Tracey's website - so it must be true.. Please go away!"
In spite of the public's appetite for 'flights of fancy', there is a subtle, yet significant and growing, undercurrent of distrust within
that I feel these outrageous onanists have been a little slow to pick up on.
It's going to turn around and bite you, boys.
(Camera pans to scene by crackling log fire,,)
'Don't worry fellows, they've the attention-span of gnats.'
'Another port, sir?'
'GREAT' Britain, indeed.
.
Who, ultimately, are going to end up the winners (and losers) out of all this, I wonder?
The schemers, funny-handshakers and backslappers seem to have convinced themselves that they're going to get away with it.
"How could I have been expected to know? .. It came to me in an official 'Bird in a Biplane' press-release" etc, etc.
Or, forehead-smackingly, in the Royal Navy's case, as we've just seen .. "I read it on Tracey's website - so it must be true.. Please go away!"
In spite of the public's appetite for 'flights of fancy', there is a subtle, yet significant and growing, undercurrent of distrust within
that I feel these outrageous onanists have been a little slow to pick up on.
It's going to turn around and bite you, boys.
(Camera pans to scene by crackling log fire,,)
'Don't worry fellows, they've the attention-span of gnats.'
'Another port, sir?'
'GREAT' Britain, indeed.
.
Last edited by Stanwell; 30th Sep 2016 at 19:08.
Avoid imitations
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It took me almost three years before I was allowed to wear and keep my hard earned RAF pilot's badge. Pilots could not regard the badge as truly theirs until six months productive flying service on a squadron had been achieved (combat ready, in general terms). Before the six months the badge could be rescinded. One of my colleagues made it through the Operational Conversion Unit course but never made combat ready and had to give back the 'wings' badge. He later re-roled to another, non-flying branch.