Terry Holloway didn't say he wasn't a fan of Maurice Kirk, but he did describe him as he is seen by many people!
However, I wonder what Sam thinks of Maurice who is seemingly disrupting the Vintage Air Rally, and was asked to leave and has not. The detention in Ethiopia was almost certainly for other reasons than Maurice.

The pilot sits in the back seat.

The Rally has certainly had much wider publicity because of Kirk.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...lew-there.html

It is worth pointing out that he did not ship his Cub to Crete but started the journey to Cape Town from a farmers field in the West Country just a few weeks ago.

How many 71 year old UK pilots could achieve that alone and without support?

He has flown some amazing adventures over the years but sadly does not fit in to the gin and tonic aviation community.

Actually, quite a lot of private pilots can and do fly long distances unsupported!

And who is Jay Sata? What are his credentials for commenting on Maurice Kirk and linking her to Tracey Curtis Taylor?

Terry,

Some posts have vanished which may have given you some insight to the 'linking'.

Believe me when I say that there is a significant difference between alone/solo and pretending to be alone/solo.

You won't have to explain to Jay Sata about the nuts and bolts about flying long distances as a PPL unsupported. He's done it.

For me, the passage that intrigues me is this.

"Terry Holloway didn't say he wasn't a fan of Maurice Kirk, but he did describe him as he is seen by many people!"

Who exactly are these people?

From what I've read he sounds an utter liability and exactly the last person you'd want anywhere near an aeroplane.
He shows no regard whatsoever for the law (which he clearly believes is ay, way beneath him) and is utterly unrepentant even when punished for serious offences by courts of law.

Why does anyone defend or support this lawless jerk? He's a shocking and disgraceful "ambassador" for aviation, that's for sure.

"From what I've read"

Exactly, and there lies the danger, until you start to scratch below the surface and all is not what they would like you to believe.

He's ok. I would trust him much more than the other one.

TH - The links/similarities are numerous. Private aviation, Africa, expedition, retracing, solo, vintage, rule breaking, disregard for procedures, crashes, notoriety, controversy, Sam Rutherford and now another name, one that links an aviatrix to an award now commenting on Maurice and Jay Sata.

I just don't know how he does what he does and gets away with it. You would have thought that at his age you would have slowed down a bit and taken things a bit easier. I even reckon he was in court shortly before his departure from the UK for driving a vehicle (that was towing his aircraft) without insurance.

But he does make the world more interesting. I just hope he doesn't hurt others or himself.

Well, one could start with the CAA and work down through every
part of General Aviation where Maurice has had contact!
He is a very amusing chap, and probably is an able stick and rudder man, but being a pilot is rather more than that.........

The Daily Fail article with its pictures of Maurice withcrashed aircraft does not provide good publicity for the Rally!

What on earth is the "gin and tonic aviation community"? What an inane comment!

Gin and Tonic aviation community
 

Terry Holloway posted It is the part of the general aviation community that indulges in small talk and networks over their achievements at black tie gatherings

You are a key part Terry.Air League executive and Honourable Company of Air Pilots liveryman.

You knew TCT long before she was 'awarded' a framed address from the Air League on which your were chairman of the awards committe.That is apparent from a quick google of your name,Marshalls Aerospace and TCT.

Here is why she got your award.

http://www.airleague.co.uk/wp-conten...chApril_16.pdf

To quote you...

So please tell us why you never corrected her claims in the media!

What did she get the award for?

Never mind the 'Outreach' claims just post what she did apart from sitting onboard a highly funded jaunt with a commercial pilot up front.

To put it bluntly Kirk never got as much as a whiff of recognition for flying a Cub from the UK to Sydney and then on to Japan during the London to Sydney Air Race. The winner was a well funded rebuilt Aerostar flown by commercial pilots.

Here is a question for you Terry.

What was so special about TCT.

Taking three months on a flight Amy Johnson did in 21 days.

Staying in first class accomodation with a large support team.

Having a commercial pilot in the front seat who built the Stearman

Not exactly hardship.

As for the 'outreach' I look forward to a full breakdown of what that means.

Why did Ewald Gritsch not receive one last May?

If Kirk makes it to Cape Town from that wet field in the Quantocks will you at the Air League consider him worthy of an A4 certificate in a frame?

I doubt it.

The Rally has just arrived in Kenya after the Ethiopians managed to figure out where they and the Sudanese managed to mess up.

For the second time in two flights, Maurice is a no show. We have launched (again) an overdue aircraft process (now Kenyan rather than Ethiopian). We suspect he was trying to fly directly to Nairobi but has run out of sunlight and landed somewhere.

Next of kin have been informed, but whilst many of his piloting skills are very poor (rules and regulations to start), his ability to drop his cub into a small field for the night is impressive. We hope he is okay and will continue in the morning.

He is no longer part of the rally, but we have been helping him with everything (fuel, accommodation, oil, permits, flight plans etc. etc.) until Kenya.

Sam,

I'm quite sure that you know this already but Maurice's tracker hasn't moved since this morning. Any reason why?

Unsupported Browser No 31



No 35 appears to be lagging too.

We don't believe he's switched it on in days... Deliberately.

For the others, the weakness in the system is the wetwear! :hmm:

Hi Sam,

Thanks for getting back. I don't understand the turning off of the tracker at this stage of the flight to win the race. Did he tell you this?

Surely he must make the scheduled stops where you have arranged fuel?

Next of kin will not worry about Maurice.

He will have dropped in somewhere and sleep under the wing.

I suspect he plans to beat everyone to Cape Town.

The local fauna might find him tasty:uhoh:

I suspect he will be the predator :-)

Today's news of Maurice, who has had his third engine failure in the same number of flights, from Sam Rutherford via a Facebook paste:

Maurice is safe! We heard he had an engine failure and landed (not at an airfield) in South Sudan but had a puncture on landing. He’s fine, we think the plane also. Locals found him and called a Brit in Juba they recently worked for. He contacted the British embassy in Juba.

Jay Sata has asked elsewhere on PPrune if Maurice Kirk should be recognised for an award for his flying exploits. My response, as Chairman of The Air League awards committee was that a suitable nomination should be written and sent for consideration to :Air League/HCAP/RAeS/RAeC/LAA. He probably could qualify for thr LAA Will Wadhams Trophy for navigation as long as flight planning, airmanship and aircraft maintenance are not factors! But then as he operates under the auspices of the LAA, that might not be an issue!

Well done Terry. You just lost all credibility with me.What a crass and stupid last paragraph.
I suppose awards for 5 star hotels and luggage carriers are more your line.:mad:

"as long as flight planning, airmanship and aircraft maintenance are not factors! But then as he operates under the auspices of the LAA, that might not be an issue!"

I can think of more than one inference to draw from this comment, and I've decided the most likely one is that it says more about the writer than anything else

Terry - He should certainly win an award for weird and another one for getting away with what he does. Anyone who can operate so far from the norms that we take for granted, not hurt anyone and still live is certainly noteworthy, as this thread proves.

But as you are mentioning awards for navigation, flight planning, airmanship and such things can you tell me how TC-T can possibly quality for any award? She doesn't plan, has clearly demonstrated and even brags about her total disregard for the law, shows dreadfully poor airmanship, had questionable navigation skills, even with a GPS and had two interesting and very public crashes. A female Mauruce Kirk if you like. I can not reconcile the lack of differences between them when it come to flying.

PM