If Ms. Curtis-Taylor is mingling with aviation friends, and doing a little recreational flying, she's probably entitled to the same anonymity which we would all expect to enjoy. If she is involved in promoting an aviation enterprise, it seems reasonable that that promotion be seen to be as forthright as our professional ethics would expect. Let's be careful what we're commenting on with respect to anyone....

Madams 'anonymity' would seem to be pretty much nonexistent after the widely known and published Africa, Australia and US of A flights. Later revelations regarding those flights could also be seen as not "as forthright as our professional ethics would expect". It is perhaps normal though unfortunate for her that anytime she 'pops up in public' her history will be what she is judged by and remembered for.

A come clean admission and an apology might change that in the long run otherwise the tainted memory will remain.
CC

I agree with comments that the lady should be left to get on with her life and to that end, I'm not sure what purpose this thread now serves. As I wrote before, any Google search returns the truth and criticism of her claims on page one so no one new to the saga could be under any misapprehension. I doubt TCT would even dip her toe in the PR/sponsorship aviation sector again given the vitriol that her last attempt produced.

I went to Scotland's National Airshow yesterday and as I was walking to get some food I heard an announcement for a talk by Tracey. Obviously I had to go and listen! Overall I was impressed and thought she came off very well.

Some highlights:
- Solo was never mentioned, except in talking about what Heath and Johnson did. She made it very clear, to quote: "I wasn't doing this on my own" and talked a lot about the support team and logistics.
- She spoke about how right now is the best ever time to be a woman in aviation; money for scholarships is "sloshing around" and industry are "desperate to recruit more women". She said that women need to make "brave choices" and just go for it, if that's what they want.
- Gender issues are lower than ever before, and everything is in place to support women in aviation.

She really did come across as having a genuine love of flying.

Yes she does but that does not justify getting her jolly paid for by sponsors who have been mislead.

I have said this before and I shall say it again, I have "friends" that move in very high circles. The latest is that her PR machine is about to kick into gear again and a move made to get the LAA decision over-turned on the grounds that there was not any intent to deceive. I won't go over it all again but that is not the impression that all the facts unravelled on here here suggests. You have to ask the question "would you give massive amounts of sponsorship if you knew that all you were doing was funding a dual trip to satisfy someones own personal dream?". This is the root question which TCT and BiaB have dodged from day one. Misdirection, lies and subterfuge surrounded her trips and that evidence is in the public domain for all to see.

By all means let her alone to enjoy her flying but I, and many many more, are not going to let this become anything more than it was. A very well funded jolly that got out of control.

Except it wasn't an "LAA decision" SWB . It was reached after a vote from the membership using the democratic process as laid down by LAA's published Memoranda & Articles of Association.
I was under the slightly mistaken misapprehension that the matter was concluded for all time after LAA-AGM, October 2016 . But have since been informed very reliably that this is actually not the case .
The fact that Curtis-Taylor's entourage pulled the wool over many people's eyes and she was awarded by the LAA for something she wanted them to believe took place but didn't has never been in contention.
If 'Team Tracey' are not happy with the outcome of LAA-AGM 2016's vote , then perhaps the whole process that took place then should be revisited . But this time , overseen by an externally contracted agency of auditing consultants .
She disingenuously cites people for maligning her via the media , yet still will not desist in fanning the embers of what many had hoped was a closed matter !

To me that would be admitting that the original vote was somehow mismanaged. Of course the "Tracy Team" are upset, or not happy, about the outcome, because it didn't go their way. Just ignore them, the matter is closed. Are they actually able to force the LAA into revisiting the vote? I'd be surprised if that were the case.

Absolutely not Megan ! And I do apologise if my wording was such that you misconstrued my meaning . But for TC-T & co. to go back down that path would be madness beyond logic , but if they were daft enough to do it , then with view to the shenanigans of Oct'16 , it would be recommendable that externally audited consultants were on hand . People who were not at that AGM may be unaware that an attempt was made to fix the voting so as to preclude those voting by proxy . Curtis-Taylor's entourage were fairly prominent in the room and were hoping that they would 'do away' with normal practice and just have a show of hands from in the room.
There was no impropriety whatsoever on behalf of the LAA and Chairman Brian Davies conducted the proceedings impeccably and stamped on the vote-gerrymandering in pretty short order.
Furthermore , it should be borne in mind that Curtis-Taylor's situation has altered since Oct22nd 2016 . At that AGM , an A4 printout was given to those present showing supposed explanations to all those 'mis-understandings'. Quote : " It is clear from what I say about the Africa flight and subsequent expeditions that they were not solo flights" . a couple of paragraphs later comes this ; " At no time was there any suggestion that these later expeditions were solo flights , although some erroneous press coverage reported that they were".

All this was shown to attendees at the AGM . It was another 6 days before 'The Herne Bay Tapes' appeared publicly . Their impact needs no explanation .

So for Ms Curtis-Taylor , attempting to obtain any sort of redress from the past would be foolish indeed . A lose/lose situation in fact .
Megan is correct , the matter is closed ! Unfortunately for poor old JZ , he probably will never see any answers either .
But for TC-T . The option of lying low is the best option by a country mile

I would have thought so too Chris, but guess who is speaking at the LAA Rally this Friday
Welcome to the Light Aircraft Association
It will be interesting to hear what she has to say !

Interesting. That's a word for it.

I presume one can ask question of the speaker? That would be even more interesting.

Shouldn't that timetable event state "Bird (and a bloke) in a Biplane"?

I wouldn't want to spoil the event for anyone at all but I do hope someone asks the questions we have all been waiting for a reply to since this saga started. If ever there was an opportunity to be honest about it all then this event is the time to do so.
I wonder if you'll get to see the video from inside the cockpit at Winslow. ;-)

I think she's planning to get humiliated at Prestwick this weekend.

If she hadn't planned for it, then she'd better start now.

Any pointers to a one page summary, that I could make into a PDF and print off in bulk (for her audience) would be most welcome.

I'm struggling for a better question than, WTF was the Herne Bay video, if not the capture of a lie?

Post 'em up again mate. that link you posted earlier just brings you back to this page and not the list of questions. :ok:

Very few questions and no awkward ones. Further report to follow.

Surely you're taking the pi55?

We have reached the point where any further information is less relevant to the original theme of this thread, it's time to move on. Thanks for the passion and high held standards, hopefully those attributes throughout this thread will inspire pilots to fly safely, with honour and pride.

In light of a recent Times article: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/t...647ab8be2149d7

discussion of the topic is reopened. Lets avoid rehashing old topics of distant relevance, unkind bashing, and anything gender based. This topic moves forward for discussion based on piloting, representation/recognition of achievements, and yes, encouraging new pilots of either gender!

We want to encourage new pilots, because we're pilots! We will accept and encourage pilots of either gender equally. And, we expect pilots to fly, and represent their achievements objectively, and honesty, from personal logbook entries, to public presentations.

With that, discussions of the merits of public recognition and awards for Ms. Curtis-Taylor's achievements is open here....

Well, In light of a recent Times article:

She is the one bringing up the gender in the discussion...

Yes, but we males can resist being drawn down into a gender based discussion... right?

For myself, I like the idea that a pilot would reach out to attract young people of either gender to be pilots!

I wrote this to Charles Bremner of The Times:

From: Sam Rutherford <[email protected]>
Sent: 20 September 2018 11:56
To: 'Bremner, Charles'...
Subject: RE: Questions about Tracey Curtis-Taylor


Hi Charles,I’m surprised by your article, and deeply disappointed. I sense an agenda.
You have written “Curtis-Taylor and her team did not claim that she was solo, except for what she calls a slip of the tongue in one presentation.” – this statement is simply not true, as you well know.
The line “Some of her fans agree that she gave her adversaries ammunition by initially allowing the impression that she was alone.” is particularly generous. She was driving the impression that she was alone by everything she did and said (before, during and after the Africa trip). As you said to me yourself during our phonecall, it was only once the story started getting out that her version changed (four times).
I did not ‘lead the charge’, but I was certainly proactive in ensuring the correct version of events became known. Certainly Tracey was not telling anyone that it wasn’t solo, and it is almost certain that without the crash in Arizona the world would still believe all the flights had been done solo.
I’m disappointed, I expected your article to be accurate and responsible (and independent) – that’s all I have ever been in this sorry saga.
Best regards, Sam.
PS There’s not even an attempt to hide the real reason for the angle of your article, putting the link to the trailer for her “upcoming film” immediately beneath it. Follow the money…?

So it was a slip of the tongue in one presentation ! I seem to recall she made that slip TWICE in the one presentation and..... having paused for dramatic effect...... she emphasized the word SOLO in both "slips".
Same as the "ALONE in an open cockpit" presentation slide- was that just a slip of the finger on the keyboard?
The interview with the reporter (fulldetails are in this thread somewhere) where they confirmed to me that you were talking to them about SOLO flights.

Trying to pull the gender card doesn't wash with me. The attempt to get to the truth would have been just the same if this was a man making the outlandish claims she made. If it was Ewald getting all the credits and awards and it was he was was making the false claims but it was subsequently found that he was accompanied by TCT then he would be the one getting the flak.

Sorry Tracey, doesn't work like that, you cannot hide behind your gender; man or woman we would want the truth. The fact that the aviation community (men and women) can see through the charade has nothing to do with your gender; it has a lot to do with you embellishing the tale.

Once again, her two direct quotes in the video where she states she was solo are brushed aside - this time as, 'a slip of the tongue'.

The Times article may bring people to this thread so I hope the moderators won't mind if I post the video below. A fair minded person seeing the video will find no sexism, envy or anger in it. Just words straight from Ms Curtis-Taylor.

As I have been brought back in to this saga, I'll be watching the next few weeks with interest.

Depending on the wording of the LAA proposal, I may put my own file together for consideration by the members.

This blatant manipulation of press/public is impressive, I must say.

1. Individual has a film they want to sell.
2. Individual has a damaged reputation.
3. Individual gets renowned newspaper to write a whitewash/positive piece to repair reputation.
4. Individual sells film (link to trailer at bottom of newspaper article for everyone's convenience!)

It's not even being done covertly or with any subtlety!

Amazing.

As a member of the LAA I feel quite insulted by the playing of the gender card, particularly in an attempt to reverse the LAA decision to revoke her award. When I watched the TV film of her flight from Cape Town I felt nothing but admiration for her, OK plus a little envy, and it never occurred to me that this was special because she was a woman. She seems to have kept her head down for the last couple of years and if, prior to that, she had admitted to being carried away by the PR machine she now would probably be in a better position to use her considerable skills to evangelise for aviation and women in particular. However, this article has just poked the sleeping beast and revealed an arrogance towards LAA members and miltary types in particular which I find totally unacceptable.
I wonder if those with military connections will be similarly insulted by this article.

How can that possibly happen after she repeatedly clings on to referring to herself as a 'bird' - not just 'in a biplane' but also in the TITLE to her forthcoming (undoubtedly self-aggrandising) 'epic' of that exact name!

As so many women - and indeed men - are quite correctly disgusted by such a derogatory name for a woman, how can she possibly expect to be taken seriously, and to avoid gender bias in return for her daft choice to cling to using such an out-dated, derogatory, insulting name for women? She apparently has no concept of doing herself, or women in general, any favours, by continuing to make this such a gender-based, indeed gender-divisive issue, as well as by continuing to use such a ridiculous expression.

Talk about reaping what you sow! I guess there will be lots more fun watching this madness unfold now that she is cranking up the (self)publicity to gas mark 11 again!

Question: If TCT had been a man and had gone to Boeing and Artemis and proposed that he and an Austrian airline pilot (thanks Charles Bremner for that piece of info) were planning various jaunts around the world in an old aircraft he had rebuilt, would those companies have coughed up half a million quid? And would all the newspapers have fallen over themselves to cover the jaunts?

No

Is the short and honest answer

Exactly. 'Bloke in a Biplane' doesn't have the same cachet does it?

A bloke, wiv anuvver bloke, flying over one or two landmasses of the Earth in the 21st century really isn't a commercial proposititon.

That's not she was/is selling.

Can someone please help me with the identity of the gentleman speaking at the beginning of the film trailer linked in the Times article?