Mad, bad and dangerous to know...

[More Aviation]

I am sorry to see that Morris Kirk was reported as missing in the Crete to Cape Town air race. I first met Mr Kirk at Cardiff Wales Airport back in the early 90's and he was a formidable if somewhat extraordinary character... I hope he is found safe and well.

An elderly British pilot has gone missing while attempting to fly his 1940s light airplane the length of Africa without either radio or satellite navigation equipment.
Fears are growing for the whereabouts of 72-year-old Maurice Kirk after the plane disappeared without trace between Sudan and Ethiopia.

The pilot - known as Captain Kirk after the Star Trek character - was taking part in a vintage air rally from Crete to Cape Town. The organisers of the rally were due to launch a search and rescue operation in an attempt to locate him.

Mr Kirk, a trained vet from Bristol, went missing on a three-hour leg southern Sudan into western Ethiopia. Organisers of the Vintage Air Rally said he had been asked to withdraw because of a lack of satellite tracking or a working compass on his 1943 Piper Cub plane.

He previously reported suffering two engine failures, but had apparently decided to press ahead with the trans-continental adventure. After his emergency landing on Sunday Mr Kirk said the experience left him "badly shaken".

He said: "Normally I would have taken this kind of event in my stride, but as I get older in years, even a minor incident like this one has shaken me up. But it won't wont stop me. It could be one of my last great adventures and I'm going to keep going."

Mike Flynn, 65, a fellow amateur pilot and friend of Mr Kirk, said: "We are all extremely concerned. The hope is if he was in trouble he got his plane down safely and is holed up some where waiting to be picked up. He is in an extremely inhospitable part of the world so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Maurice has always been a maverick so who knows what may have happened?"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11 ... 40s-plane/

The last time I saw Mr Kirk he was sitting by his battered bi-plane at the Farnborough air show some years back surrounded by 3 furry hounds lying on moth eaten old rugs underneath the aircraft. He is truly one of Britain's great eccentrics and a man from another century. I wish him the best.



MA

[Boac]

....and I hate to associate the woman with this topic, but

then there is TCT...................

Fingers crossed for Maurice.

[More Aviation]

Looks like the old buzzard has been found.

Found alive

MA

[ian16th]

A very lucky man.

It is one of the most inhospitable part of the world.

Flying at 8,000' in a Hastings over Ethiopia was bad enough.

[Alisoncc]

Organisers of the Vintage Air Rally said he had been asked to withdraw from the rally because of a lack of satellite tracking or a working compass on his 1943 Piper Cub plane.

He previously reported suffering two engine failures, but had apparently decided to continue.

That's just stoopid. Having flown charters in Africa with just an E6B, HF and a compass I would definitely consider the compass as being a very necessary prerequisite for success in getting from A to B.

Alison

[More Aviation]

At the start of a race to Australia some years back all the competitors were issued with charts. When Kirk, one of the competitors, duly arrived in Australia his charts were found in the back of the Piper Cub unopened...

He flies along his own unique track that's for sure!

MA

[Alisoncc]

He flies along his own unique track that's for sure!

Probably does what Speedy wrote of here:

Passenger visiting the flight deck at night asked the Captain how he knew where to go ? He said, Madam look out of the window, can you see that red light on the wing tip ( we had some sort of plastic indicator on the wing tip, so that we could ascertain that the light was working ) Yes, she said. Now can you see that green light on the right hand side, Yes. Well, I just fly between them. Marvellous, she said, I never knew how you did it. ( true story, I witnessed it ! )

Alison

[More Aviation]

A little more information (but not a lot) is now available, not least because, as ever, African bureaucracy, incompetence and political ineptitude has got in the way...

...on Wednesday night VAR announced on its Facebook page that Kirk and the rest of participants, around 40 people in all, were in Gambela, Ethiopia.

It sounded as if all was not going smoothly. The statement read: “The Ethiopian authorities have elected to allocate accommodation at the airport rather than permit them to proceed to their pre-booked hotel. The reasons for this, at this time, are not 100% clear.

“There is no possibility to communicate with them but all participants, including Maurice Kirk, are safe and accounted for. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware, is talking with other embassies, and is negotiating on their behalf. We have no further information because of the lack of communications. More information to follow when available.”

It seems that Mr Kirk, always the contrarian, eccentric maverick also elected to participate in the race in his own unique way...

Kirk did not set off with the main party but joined them en route. He was asked to withdraw from the rally because of what the organisers called a “mismatch in expectations”.

Morris Kirk marches to the sound of his own distant drummer!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... -piper-cub

MA

[603DX]

Latest BBC radio news (at 11.00am) on Maurice's participation in this entertaining attempt to "boldly go" like Captain Kirk, is that the Ethiopian authorities are currently holding all of the entrants for some as-yet unclear reason. Well, at least that will give him a chance to have his compass and radio fixed during the delay!

Or maybe he prefers to rely on "The Great Honey Monster", or whatever other mysterious guidance system has got him that far without harm ...

Quite apart from the man's reluctance to follow conventional channels in aviation matters, or in relations with civil authorities wherever he resides, I believe that he was actually a very good vet - until the Royal College struck him off the register. My late mother-in-law in Guernsey spoke very highly of his treatment of her dogs during his years in practice in the island. And she was very sparing in giving praise - I never received anything like that approval myself, for having dared to marry her only daughter and take her away to England!

[More Aviation]

Ad idem about all you say of Mr Kirk 603DX. I would say that he doesn't suffer fools and woe-betide anybody who would attempt to cross him as one aircraft engineer/mechanic at Cardiff Wales found out to his cost.

I have heard of Honeywell autopilots but in Mr Kirk's case it may just be the Honey Monster that guides him on his way.

MA

[More Aviation]

A little more info from Pilot Magazine on the continuing impasse around the air race with some more details of Kirk's foibles in this case...

British pilot, and no stranger to scandal and controversy, Maurice Kirk has turned up after being reported missing during the Vintage Air Rally (VAR).

He disappeared between Sudan and Ethiopia during a three-hour leg of the flight across Africa, causing a search and rescue operation to be launched.

Hopes of continuing with the 35-day rally from Crete to South Africa, covering some 8,000 miles, are now at risk as authorities in Ethiopia have decided to ‘allocate accommodation at the airport’ in Gambela for all the crews, around 40 people in all.


The reasons for this, at this time, are not 100% clear,’ read a statement on the VAR Facebook page. ‘There is no possibility to communicate with them but all participants, including Maurice Kirk, are safe and accounted for.’

‘The UK Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) is aware, is talking with other embassies and is negotiating on their behalf.’

There are reports that phones and computers have been confiscated.

Kirk’s involvement in the VAR caused concerns even before he went missing. He joined late flying a 1943 Piper Cub, despite the rally being intended for aircraft built in the 1920s and 30s.

The 71-year-old then suffered a heavy landing in Khartoum, which left him shaken, and had two engine failures. Organisers asked him to withdraw as his Cub did not have satellite tracking or a working compass, but he continued to fly south.

There was no way to contact him when he went missing on his way to Gambela as he had no radio.

This is nothing out of the ordinary for Kirk, former drinking buddy of actor Oliver Reed. After a string of court cases, the ‘Flying Vet’ was kicked out of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for ‘disgraceful conduct’.

Then in 2008, he was arrested for landing a replica of a World War I biplane near to the Texan Ranch belonging to George W Bush. He wanted to thank the US President for being rescued by the Coastguard when his aircraft crashed in the Atlantic.

It remains unclear whether Kirk and the other VAR crews will be able to continue to South Africa.

http://www.pilotweb.aero/news/missing_m ... _1_4791170

The ever irascible Kirk...




MA

[More Aviation]

The race/rally is back on...

An attempt by a hardy group of adventurers to fly the length of Africa in vintage planes is back on course after two days stranded in Ethiopia, where the authorities had accused them of illegally entering the country’s airspace.

Diplomats from the UK, Ireland and the US were involved in the release of the group of about 40 people, who were held in a small airport in the west of Ethiopia. Their planes are expected to head to Kenya on Friday.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... -detention

[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPgS26ZhqZs[/bbvideo]

MA

[More Aviation]

For those wondering about Mr Kirk's navigational methods, this excerpt from the link above is revealing...

Even before his disappearance this week, the rally was not plain sailing for Kirk. He almost crashed Liberty Girl II in France when he suffered an engine failure as he approached Cannes. “That so easily could have ended in a tangled pile of twisted aircraft and Maurice,” he wrote on Facebook.

On 19 November, he posted: “Where am I? I keep getting lost which is why I really wanted to go via Gibraltar and just keep the sea on my right to Table mountain [near Cape Town].” He has suffered a puncture and propeller failure.

Kirk did not set off with the main party, but joined them en route. He was then asked to withdraw from the rally because of what the organisers called a “mismatch in expectations”. They were also concerned about the state of his plane.

MA

[603DX]

For those wondering about Mr Kirk's navigational methods, this excerpt from the link above is revealing...

On 19 November, he posted: “Where am I? I keep getting lost which is why I really wanted to go via Gibraltar and just keep the sea on my right to Table mountain [near Cape Town].” He has suffered a puncture and propeller failure.

Kirk did not set off with the main party, but joined them en route. He was then asked to withdraw from the rally because of what the organisers called a “mismatch in expectations”. They were also concerned about the state of his plane.

MA

If Mr Kirk is now on the way to Kenya as reported, maybe the unconventional navigation guidance made available to him by the Great Honey Monster (or similar mystic means) will ensure his arrival. In case providence is lacking in this respect however, I believe that following that big Rift Valley as a VFR aid might point in more or less the right direction. From there onwards, by keeping the sea on his left rather than the right, coast-hugging all the rest of the way ought to lead eventually to Cape Town ...

[More Aviation]

603DX it appears that he became 'lost' or 'somewhat uncertain of his position' soon after leaving Ethiopia en route to Kenya but was found again (it reads like a verse from Amazing Grace doesn't it). One trusts that, currently, the force of the Honey Monster may be with him as who knows (least of all him) where he might be at the moment.

I am following the blog of one of the race's helicopter pilots with much interest and amusement. This segment is related to Mr Kirk's spatial disorientation prior to arriving in Khartoum. The lack of a working compass and charts might be a clue as to why he is finding it so hard.

Meanwhile a small amount of drama was being injected into the proceedings by the fact that the pilot who had been late into Khartoum (Read: Maurice Kirk), had failed to arrive when expected into Damazin. Eventually he called in on the radio an hour after everyone else had landed. But, was lost, had a compass that only worked if he was flying south (sic), his GPS had not updated and his map was left behind in the hotel.

Eventually, after about 30 minutes he was patiently talked down by the tower.

MA

[More Aviation]

I note that Mr Kirk's Cub is now sitting forlornly in Kenya after yet another forced landing...

I imagine that if he leaves the aircraft in the veld then it may soon become the main constituent of one of these...



MA