Perhaps Ian Hislop and Private Eye are getting it wrong?

All that nasty gossip and politically incorrect covers? (I see you are from the Sydney/Brisbane area.Does Private Eye sell in Australia?)

As you no doubt will have guessed I am from the school that enjoys Clarkson May and Hammond instead of the boring Tiff Needell and oily Quentin Wilson.

However I guess purists will argue the former were not presenting a proper car show.

Clarkson should have been sent to the naughty corner over his fracas but the outcome has been counter productive.

From what I read the BBC replaced one bully with another.

I am just making a personal point that all magazines ,not just those focussing on flying, appear to repeat or recycle their covers and content.

The worst culprits are the in flight glossies.

I am guilty of thread drift. Maybe it is best discuss this topic elsewhere?

It's good to hear that TCT's Stearman is being rebuilt after her accident; I hope that she will be able to complete her transcontinental flight across the USA next year.

Flying Lawyer wrote: Would that be "Ooh, Billy, you are a naughty boy!" to Lord Astor :ooh:

JS,
There's a Clarkson thread over on Jet Blast.
I'll PM you re Private Eye and Avmags.
.

BEagleI was thinking of: "He would say that, wouldn't he." (About Lord Astor.)


The highest I'd put it is that it's a matter of indifference to me whether she does or doesn't complete her jolly although, with the enormous sponsorship available to her, and her apparently insatiable thirst for publicity, I assume she will.


I'm certainly pleased the aircraft can be rebuilt. If not, that would have been a great pity.
The Stearman is a wonderful old aircraft, a pure joy to fly.

On the other hand, I'm not convinced that TCT needed "doorstepping" either.

What was she suppose to say, "I wasn't me, the cameras were lying"

I think that the people who needed to see this, now have. Let's now see if justice is delivered or if the deceipt is upheld.

I don't think she's delusional at all. Certainly not to be pitied.

I think she's highly manipulative and very skilled at what she does. Not the flying. I think she's a mediocre private pilot and rather poor navigator, but she's brilliant at the bull****. A true artist.

She loves to play on her gender. Her gender agenda is highly profitable for her, not only financially.

It is perhaps ironic that she likes to play the Amelia Earhart card. There was another mediocre pilot, and piss-poor navigator, who plied her personal charms, such as they were, to gain the support of a competent publicist. Interestingly, she too found the funds to rebuild an aeroplane which she cracked up through being a bit of a crap pilot.

Lucky the Stearman doesn't have reverse, eh. ;)

Doorstepping ! Really, think about it. You've just managed to score a multi year multi continent trip, flying your dream plane, having unique experiences and meeting people from around the world, 5 star all the way and all on someone else's dime, then some clown shows up at your door to hassle you about it. You're gonna tell him to get his low rent sorry journo ass back on the bus he came on and help him on his way with a swift kick in the rear.

Piper, she's just living the dream.

What I find most annoying is that today, like every other day this year hundreds of women have got airborne with thousands of passengers in their care. Flown halfway round the world and landed safely without anybody noticing. These women are called pilots, the fact that they have lumps in their jumpers rather than their pants means nothing. They are PILOTS.

T C-T and all the other self-promoting women of her ilk bring down the achievements of their sex. Amy Johnston did well, Beryl Markham was amazing, Sheila Scott charmed me (as a teenager) into a blushing mess. And we give T C-T an award? FFS!!

A Stearman with a GPS is just a slow flying, highly capable machine, and she needed help? Thats not an achievement, thats inadequacy. As for her p### poor record of busting both her own and other's aircraft, that's just incompetence.

If she has lied then let her take the flak, even if she hasn't she doesn't deserve more than re-training as far as I'm concerned.

SND

Sir Niall,

:D

SND..........that sums it up pretty well.

Thread drift coming up..... Today my copy of "The Moth" (magazine from the deH Moth Club dropped through my letter box). It contained the antidote to everything in this thread: a well written report on Johan WIKLUND's flight from North Cape to Cape Town in a deH 60 Cirrus Moth. He was commemorating, fellow Swede, Gosta Andree's flight in 1929.

A real SOLO flight, no one in the front cockpit and no accompanying a/c. Just a solid individual effort. Yes, he is an airline pilot which may have helped a bit. There may have been some sponsorship but little was made of that. The aircraft bore the name of a Swedish crowd funding website.

He has received the Gold Medal from the Royal Swedish Aero Club as "Aviator of the Year). He has also been awarded "The Spirit of Enterprise" trophy from the Moth Club. Both, I am sure very well deserved. I cannot see anyone dissenting from the presentation of these awards to a very competent pilot who just got on with the challenge with minimal publicity..........

Well done.....Johan !!!!

Would that be a certain day-time television quiz-show hostess and latterly a day-time telly chat-show regular?

She's a Group Captain, y'know. Not as good looking in her webbing as Section Leader Harvey, but with a bit of dual she might shape up.

The best rank that madam Wossername has managed to wangle is L'tenant Cdr in the navy that doesn't fly aeroplanes. :yuk:


:yuk:

Requires more dual.

I'm not sure that I quite get that one, Jetblu..

On thinking about it, I wondered whether you might be likening it to TCT attempting to parallel-park a Morris Minor, with guidance, in under half an hour.
The publicity machine would, of course, be on hand to record the event, upon which press-releases (accompanied by carefully selected images) would be widely distributed.
Then ...

I was going to go on .. but you get the picture.

Yeah, how about that?

Certainly the naval uniform is smarter than the RAF one, though what could compare to Section Officer Harvey?

Heck, my wife is an Hon Lt Commander but does not wear the uniform. She has too much respect for those that do the job for real.


I can back that statement up if anyone wishes to PM me.

That's your wife's choice.


TCT is an Honorary Lieutenant Commander, Royal Naval Reserve. (Gazetted Oct 2015.)
I wouldn't criticise her, nor anyone else, for wearing the uniform of their honorary rank on appropriate occasions.

I assume that if the services did not want that to happen they would not have specific uniforms for their honorary officers.

I think that Flying Lawyer is spot on, while TCT holds the rank.

Whether or not she should be allowed to continue to hold that rank, is another matter.

From the (sole) Bird In A Biplane

Still didn't stop you claiming it as a solo flight on your own website as recently as Feb 2015, a couple of years after "this concept was intentionally and officially dropped":

"Her solo open-cockpit biplane flight from Cape Town to Goodwood" - Feb 4 2015 snapshot.

"Her open-cockpit biplane flight from Cape Town to Goodwood" - current website.

Well you should never have claimed - on your own website - that they were, both explicitly and implicitly.

I for one am "deeply disappointed" that you have falsely claimed the kudos for, and accepted awards associated with, an achievement that you patently did not accomplish.

FBW

I for two....

This, based upon what I have read here, and the apparent changing after the fact of written references to "solo".

In Canada, "solo" is legally defined as being the sole occupant of the aircraft - no second person aboard, in any role. A "solo" flight as a team effort seems a stretch too - it's one or the other.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgAU0QcWcAE_UxM.jpg



Speaking at the Seattle Museum of Flight ....


"alone in an open cock-pit plane."

I wonder if she is a 'remain' also.

Kathryn's Report: Boeing B75N1, 3G Classic Aviation Inc., N56200: Accident occurred May 11, 2016 near Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport (KINW) Winslow, Navajo County, Arizona

Who am I to argue?

The question for all is can it be done today in a Moth by a genuine woman pilot?

14 days and 22 hours London to Oz in a DH Moth?

Well for me the best idea is that maybe it is time for the Daily Mail to run an air race for Tiger Moths from London to Sydney.

Sort this out once and for all.

Can anyone do it like Jean Batten?

Two weeks over 11,000 miles!

Not much time for enjoying the sites on that trip and inspiration for any pilot of whatever sex.

Royal Aero Club rules etc.

FL makes a good point re the Stearman and I would like to place on record I have nothing but total admiration for Ewald and his commitment to the airframe.

Check out his parts and restoration here.
http://www.stearman.at/pictures/Sout...d/P1050179.JPG

Boeing Stearman

http://www.stearman.at/pictures/Sout...d/P1060448.JPG

http://www.stearman.at/pictures/part...s%20101-1s.jpg
http://www.stearman.at/pictures/part...0free%202s.jpg

Sort what out?

How hard or easy it is to fly a pre WW2 DH Tiger Moth from London to Sydney.

Jean Batten did it in a couple of weeks.

Can it be done in 2016/17?

Best you google him:ok:

I presume you mean no support teams, no GPS or any other modern technology, except for equipment like Xponders and radios as may be required for ATC compliance?

I'd say it'd be harder today as compared to when Jean Batten did the trip the geo-political landscape is much more fractious today.

Having said that, I think your suggestion is a great idea, it would certainly put a modern perspective on Jean Battens achievement. In the process make people of the modern era realise how great her achievement was.

Quote, For the avoidance of doubt, I have always been the sole pilot of Spirit of Artemis. Quote.

Sole pilot is still not solo.
The "sole"pilot accompanied by a 3year old kid is not "solo"
Doesn't she get it?

I'm sure she does, hence the sole pilot statement instead of solo.

Just a way to either, try and gracefully back out of the situation, or to muddy the waters for the layman perspective who won't realise there's difference between solo and sole in this situation.

Of course.
In the same way, she was "alone" in her cock-pit (sic).
The woman has no shame.
She figures she can just brazen it out and give the 'rigid-digit' to those nasty, jealous little people who would rain on her parade.

Note also "sole pilot of".

She is careful not to say "sole pilot on board".

G

Oh yes.
Tracey wouldn't tell a fib, would she?
Of course, neither would the ever-so-compliant Ewald.
They simply refuse to answer questions.

Of course it can, though the impediments would be much the same as this chap faced in 1978.

http://www.ivanrendall.me/images/art...0/fi01_500.jpg

DAVID CYSTER set out to operate as far as possible under the same conditions as Hinkler - a brave exercise, inviting inevitable and critical comparisons between today's pilots and the pioneers of the 1920s. It may seem significant, therefore, that he suffered from the same three main problems that plagued Hinkler: unpredictable weather (despite modern forecasting methods), fatigue and fuel leaks. But there was an obstacle in 1978 which Hinkler was blessedly spared: the bureaucracy which surrounds international flying, especially in light aircraft.

Planning, both in the 12 months prior to take-off, and careful flight-planning during the 32 days en route to Darwin, was the foundation of his successfully completed flight.

It was not a record-breaking attempt. The days when Tigers would suffer "throttle bending" through the tropics are over. Many asked why the flight to Darwin took twice as long as Hinkler's record 16 days. Though Cyster modestly attributes this to the pioneer's skill, it has to be noted that in 1928 planning was very much the pilot's prerogative, and he was assured of a warm welcome wherever his atlas was painted red.

Cyster's route was longer, to avoid touchy political areas, especially in the Middle East. It was planned in legs of as near 700 n.m. as possible, and the longest and coldest turned out to be the 620 n.m. to Marseilles. Before February 7, Cyster's longest flight in a Tiger Moth was a 2.12hr leg to Dunsfold from his base at RAF Valley the previous day.

England Australia by Tiger Moth

Ewald is taking money to help perpetuate a fraud - why on earth would he be so stupid as to talk about it in public?

(Yes, I'm not a lawyer - but taking large amounts of sponsorship money for a solo flight that turns out to have had a more experienced pilot on board most of the time, feels very like fraud to me as I understand the term.)

G

Among the posts of this thread there are mentions of honours and awards which have been bestowed upon TCT. Being Canadian, I admit to being unfamiliar with these in general, as for the most part it would seem that one learns about honours and awards by reading who has received them much more than their origin.

TCT's modest and apparently deceitful accomplishments as described here certainly have me thinking less of the value of the awards and honours granted to her. If the award or honour were granted after a deceitful endeavor, it would seem that the issuer of the award or honour did not do their homework before issuing. If the recipient of awards and honours is guilty of deceitful behaviour following the granting of an award or honour to them, perhaps they have not displayed the requisite personal attributes to be worthy of that honour... Ultimately the award or honour itself suffers, in my opinion.

Sporting awards are often withdrawn after the fact, when doping has been found to have occurred to achieve the "win"......

STATEMENT

I, and the Bird in a Biplane Team believe it is helpful to respond to some commentary appearing in the press about whether the flight expeditions undertaken in 2013-2016 were flown solo or in company.

For the avoidance of doubt, I have always been the sole pilot of Spirit of Artemis.

In planning the expedition through Africa in 2013 there was an initial hope of a solo flight in the beautiful & original 1942 Boeing Stearman.

However, in the early stages of the flight this concept was intentionally and officially dropped as I and the Bird in a Biplane Team brought our flight planning and logistics increasingly in-house and the expedition evolved into a much bigger opportunity to extend the program with documentary filming, an extensive outreach program involving different charities along the route and sharing the experience of open cockpit flying with others.

I am deeply disappointed at the comments coming from a particular source making false assertions that my flight expeditions should have been executed as solo flights. They were not. They are all about a collaborative team effort and celebrating the brilliant achievements of women like Amy Johnson and Lady Heath who made history when aviation was in its infancy.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor
Tracey Curtis Taylor - Aviatrix, Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker


I would have now thought that the wording of this latest statement takes the matter to a much more serious level.

This is not a delusional woman to be pitied at all. This is now a very clear orchestrated and deliberate deceit with the blatant intention to fuzzy the evidence. The obvious known and missed attention to detail being that she was accompanied by an another highly experienced pilot for the majority of the flight, whom just so happened to also be a flying instructor and the aircraft owner. [which she has intentionally failed to disclose to her groupies in that statement]

Whilst I see nothing wrong with her having connections [we all do] I fail to see how she can imagine for one moment that that will save her bacon here.

The sad thing is that such a set of trips could have easily attracted excellent interest and exposure if they had been properly managed and called 'Bird and Bloke in a Biplane" or any other combination. Let's not forget, to follow such routes is a fantastic adventure in itself.

Unfortunately, whilst focussing on the "Bird" bit, TCT seems to have forgotten about more interesting bits. A nicely fitted flying-suit, some fresh make-up and a the occasional MILF-inspired photograph only appeals to a few; to me the publicity should have been about the wider adventure and the wider aims. There's an interesting set of trips going on by a chap in his R66 (threejourneysround). This is another rich person's adventure interspersed with some very useful charity work but one must seriously question whether TCT's endeavours and achievements are worthy of far greater public recognition etc just because she is a woman?