Tracey Curtis-Taylor (Merged threads)
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I can claim to celebrate the Wright Brothers every time I get airborne and I have 'emulated' Bleriot many times when crossing the Channel



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Or, as the late Professor Joad was wont to say: "It all depends on what you mean by 'sole' ".
As an old stick-and-rudder man, I suppose I was always a 'sole' pilot in the sense that no one else was flying it at the time (apart from Guardian Angel, who grabbed the stick once or twice). Aircraft flown by two pilots at once do not, as a rule, do well. (Did not Sir Winston Churchill [who apparently did a bit] speak of "Stalling between two Fools ?")
D.
As an old stick-and-rudder man, I suppose I was always a 'sole' pilot in the sense that no one else was flying it at the time (apart from Guardian Angel, who grabbed the stick once or twice). Aircraft flown by two pilots at once do not, as a rule, do well. (Did not Sir Winston Churchill [who apparently did a bit] speak of "Stalling between two Fools ?")
D.
Thread Starter
Don't get me started on flying travels over a few pints in a bar Jonzaro...;-)
Ewald you have agreed to answer questions via email.
Are you saying that this quote in the UK best selling newspaper the Daily Mail is incorrect?
I would remind you the conversation was recorded and the story cleared by the Daily Mail legal team.
Are you trying to convince us ,that as the constructor/creator and rebuilder of the Spirit of Artemis plus a commercial pilot and flight instructor ,you were just a passenger?
Why the GPS and radio kit in the front of the Boeing?
Why were there no GoPro cameras forward of the rear seat looking back to see the front seat occupant?
Did you not think a solo flight or expedition must be carried out alone?
Why did you hide in Sydney?

Can you explain this picture given your comments and admissions?
Can you see the word 'alone' ?

I must say that I have nothing but admiration for the wonderful work you and your team carry out at 3G Aviation.The rebuilds are stunning.
Ewald you have agreed to answer questions via email.
Are you saying that this quote in the UK best selling newspaper the Daily Mail is incorrect?
Mr Gritsch admits he was in the forward cockpit for ‘the majority’ of the flights from Cape Town to Goodwood and Farnborough to Sydney. He said: ‘The situation was that it was not a solo flight.’
Read more: 'Solo' flying poster girl is brought down by claims that she had co-pilot | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Read more: 'Solo' flying poster girl is brought down by claims that she had co-pilot | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Are you trying to convince us ,that as the constructor/creator and rebuilder of the Spirit of Artemis plus a commercial pilot and flight instructor ,you were just a passenger?
Why the GPS and radio kit in the front of the Boeing?
Why were there no GoPro cameras forward of the rear seat looking back to see the front seat occupant?
Did you not think a solo flight or expedition must be carried out alone?
Why did you hide in Sydney?
Can you explain this picture given your comments and admissions?
Can you see the word 'alone' ?

I must say that I have nothing but admiration for the wonderful work you and your team carry out at 3G Aviation.The rebuilds are stunning.
Last edited by Mike Flynn; 16th Oct 2016 at 14:22.

Thread Starter
Ewalds statement
Reading Ewalds full statement I believe he penned it.
The grammar and syntax are a giveaway.
The revealing paragraph is this.
I love that last line.
Like a chauffeur sitting up front all day he has to "order the drinks for the crews in the evenings" (sic)
Please read the above with an Austrian accent
Reminds me of the TCT quote to Sam Rutherford.
"Sam...What can be more important than getting my luggage to the hotel?"
The grammar and syntax are a giveaway.
The revealing paragraph is this.
On the following expeditions I took over the tasks of supporting Tracey Curtis-Taylor with all the flight planning and logistics. Besides I am taking care of the technical needs of this airplane, the chase plane, supporting the ground handling, filming and ordering the drinks for the crews in the evenings.
Like a chauffeur sitting up front all day he has to "order the drinks for the crews in the evenings" (sic)
Please read the above with an Austrian accent

Reminds me of the TCT quote to Sam Rutherford.
"Sam...What can be more important than getting my luggage to the hotel?"
Last edited by Mike Flynn; 16th Oct 2016 at 15:19.

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The first time I flew solo, my instructor got out of the aeroplane first. If I had realised that it was not necessary for him to be absent, I would have urged him to stay because it was cold outside that day. Oh well, you live and learn.

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Ewald
Not sure if you read this stuff or not - notwithstanding everything else that has been said, when you next speak to Curtis-Taylor, would you mind awfully if you ask her to stop wearing the RAF Pilots Flying Badge on any garment she deems necessary to flaunt them upon. As far as I know (as she keeps telling everyone), for one reason or another she didn't make it into the Royal Air Force and has absolutely no right to wear the wings that I worked bloody hard to achieve and then subsequently operate under while being shot at etc.
Thanks awfully old chap!
LC
Not sure if you read this stuff or not - notwithstanding everything else that has been said, when you next speak to Curtis-Taylor, would you mind awfully if you ask her to stop wearing the RAF Pilots Flying Badge on any garment she deems necessary to flaunt them upon. As far as I know (as she keeps telling everyone), for one reason or another she didn't make it into the Royal Air Force and has absolutely no right to wear the wings that I worked bloody hard to achieve and then subsequently operate under while being shot at etc.
Thanks awfully old chap!
LC

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The BIGGEST and clearest outright DECEPTION is that statement that she cannot retract or qualify in any way: "7,000 miles in 32 legs over 6 weeks ALONE in an open cock-pit (sic) plane."
That is and remains an OUTRIGHT LIE!
That is and remains an OUTRIGHT LIE!

deefer, she'll probably reply that she was alone in HER cockpit. Lewis Carroll
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

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Far be it from me to pour mogas on the flames, but has the support plane's (planes'?) role as tanker got a mention yet?
Maybe I just missed it in the general mêlée, but I don't recall any previous mention of that wee "carrying barrels of fuel" gem.
Originally Posted by BBC Radio 4 - MIDWEEK

It still amazes me how she has the front to say that her journey was harder than Amy Johnson's because of the reduced range of the Stearman; yet fails to mention that Amy did it in an aircraft that had about 1/3 of the power, that she was an inexperienced pilot and that she was F@*%%£$ SOLO, with no F@*%%£$ support crew, either sat in with her or 200 yards behind in the support plane!
Maybe Amy did not have to contend with airspace restrictions or clearances but then again, neither did TCT; someone else sorted that out.
As for Ewald's statement. I said in an earlier post that he could resolve this once and for all, and I had faith that he could do so, however, all it has done is stir up the odour of a rodent.
Maybe Amy did not have to contend with airspace restrictions or clearances but then again, neither did TCT; someone else sorted that out.
As for Ewald's statement. I said in an earlier post that he could resolve this once and for all, and I had faith that he could do so, however, all it has done is stir up the odour of a rodent.

Tabs please !
The leading aircraft was probably dual purposed as a flying tanker when there were no randomly scattered aboriginal villages close by with 100LL for sale.
I often wonder why the empty front cockpit was not kitted out with an auxiliary tank. After all, she was alone in an open cock-pit
I often wonder why the empty front cockpit was not kitted out with an auxiliary tank. After all, she was alone in an open cock-pit


The leading aircraft was probably dual purposed as a flying tanker when there were no randomly scattered aboriginal villages close by with 100LL for sale.
I often wonder why the empty front cockpit was not kitted out with an auxiliary tank. After all, she was alone in an open cock-pit
I often wonder why the empty front cockpit was not kitted out with an auxiliary tank. After all, she was alone in an open cock-pit

Sadly fuel drums won't carry your bags to the 5* lobby.
No doubt a conscious decision to have shorter hops so as to "out-reach" to more mere mortals.

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If the radio is in the front the a/c is incapable of being flown from the back seat unless on a non radio basis, and why the heck would anyone do that? It certainly makes the claim of carrying other team members from time to time look a bit cheesy - were they navigating and (licenced) using the radio?
Additionally if the aircraft was set up with the radio head in the front than it is clear that even from the planning stages when the aircraft was being rebuilt that it was never intended to be flown solo from the back seat from day one. Likewise, if the sole "pilot" had no GPS but the front "pax" did then it is clear that the burden of navigation was on the front seat, not the rear. Assuming that the radio head and GPS really were in the front this proves that TCT was never expected to fly alone from the conception of the whole thing, unless she planned the highly unorthodox solution of flying it from the front.
Is there any evidence of TCT ever flying it from the front?
Who did the RT - are there any records of whose voice was transmitted - or did the Caravan in practice handle nav and formation RT?
Fishier and fishier!
Additionally if the aircraft was set up with the radio head in the front than it is clear that even from the planning stages when the aircraft was being rebuilt that it was never intended to be flown solo from the back seat from day one. Likewise, if the sole "pilot" had no GPS but the front "pax" did then it is clear that the burden of navigation was on the front seat, not the rear. Assuming that the radio head and GPS really were in the front this proves that TCT was never expected to fly alone from the conception of the whole thing, unless she planned the highly unorthodox solution of flying it from the front.
Is there any evidence of TCT ever flying it from the front?
Who did the RT - are there any records of whose voice was transmitted - or did the Caravan in practice handle nav and formation RT?
Fishier and fishier!

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For goodness sake T-CT man up ( or woman up) we all know by now that it was a sham. Commercially motivated or "what ever" just save some kind if dignity and confess. We will all think slightly less confrontational of you if you do. the time has come for goodness sake!!.

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TCT "And the only part that wasn't wrecked was the fuselage"
Libby Purves "And the pilot"
TCT "and the two - uh, the pilot - and my crew"
Oh, she sure let that one slip, quite clear that her mindset, hastily corrected, was that there were two pilots on board.
Libby Purves "And the pilot"
TCT "and the two - uh, the pilot - and my crew"
Oh, she sure let that one slip, quite clear that her mindset, hastily corrected, was that there were two pilots on board.

Hopefully the LAA decision, followed closely by "Monty Rutherford's Flying Circus" of vintage aeroplanes sweeping down through Africa to Cape Town, will kick all this "flim flam" into touch in the next month or two. Hopefully then some genuine general aviation stalwarts might get some recognition for their ongoing efforts and achievements .

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Haraka,
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, mate.
The reversal of the LAA's award would be embarrassing for some - not least the club's patron and promoter of the TCT cause.
It would also open a bigger can of worms.
We can't have that now, can we?
.
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, mate.
The reversal of the LAA's award would be embarrassing for some - not least the club's patron and promoter of the TCT cause.
It would also open a bigger can of worms.
We can't have that now, can we?
.
Last edited by Stanwell; 18th Oct 2016 at 19:06.
