Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#81 Post by Boac » Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:54 am

Well, at last some action.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/br ... ng-9110682

Thank you Barry and the LAA.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#82 Post by More Aviation » Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:45 am

Let's see what the stuffed shirts at the other organisation do now Boac!

A self-styled “bird in a biplane” who became the poster girl for female flyers has been stripped of an award amid claims she used a co-pilot on a solo mission.
The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) has rescinded a trophy given to Tracey Curtis-Taylor in 2015 for flying from Cape Town to Britain.

Ms Curtis-Taylor, who is a close friend of Prince Michael of Kent, has made a career of flying vintage planes around the world.

But the 54-year-old was unceremoniously stripped of the Bill Woodhams Trophy during an LAA annual general meeting at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire at the weekend.
Members of the group claimed that she had misled the public and voted for her to be stripped of the trophy by a majority of nearly two to one. It is thought to be the first time such an award has been withdrawn.

Ms Curtis-Taylor, who attended the meeting in an attempt to head off the motion, has been mired in controversy after flight instructor Ewald Gritsch came forward to say that he had occupied the  forward cockpit of her vintage biplane for most of the legs of her “solo” journeys.

Speaking in the wake of the disclosure, Ms Curtis-Taylor previously said: “For the avoidance of doubt, I have always been the sole pilot.” 
She later said that she had never claimed to be flying solo and insisted that Mr Gritsch had simply been a passenger.

However, her logistics manager, Sam Rutherford, said the airman gave her vital flight instruction and helped with engineering.

He also accused her of embellishing the truth and said that she had only flown four of the 36 legs from Cape Town to Goodwood on her own.

Barry Tempest, a veteran member of the LAA, who suggested that  her award be withdrawn in the light of the claims, said: “I am delighted  the award has been rescinded and her name will removed from the annals of the Light Aircraft Association.

“I have the greatest of respect for women pilots, but I think Tracey Curtis-Taylor has not done a lot to further their cause.

“I think she is a boastful lady who needs bringing down a peg or two. She made these claims about flying solo, or at least that is what we were led to believe, and now it has come out that they were not that at all. Far from it. I believe the integrity of the LAA has been restored.”

On the surface, the former waitress’s trips in her 1942 Boeing Stearman mirrored some of history’s greatest exploits by solo female flyers.

The trip from Cape Town to Goodwood, West Sussex, was first completed solo by Irish aviator Lady Mary Heath in 1928.

Ms Curtis-Taylor completed the 36-leg, 10,000-mile-flight in 2013, and in 2015 received the award from the LAA as a result.

Mr Gritsch, who comes from Austria, was also on board for parts of  her trip from Farnborough to Sydney, where she arrived in January after a flight that covered 23 countries over 50 legs. The route was the same as the 1930 journey made by Amy Johnson, the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia.

When Ms Curtis-Taylor crashed in Arizona earlier this year on the third leg of a round-the-world flight, Mr Gritsch was seen scrambling from the wreckage. 

His presence triggered widespread protest on respected flight forums Flyer and the Professional Pilots Rumour Network. The controversy has also caused concern among the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, which awarded Ms Curtis-Taylor a Masters Medal earlier this year.

The LAA said it would respect the vote of its members. Steve Slater, the chief executive, said: “This issue has divided opinion but it is not for me to decide.
“I am happy that the members feel able to air their views and it’s down to the members to decide.

“The award was made in good faith but in the light of what has emerged since we made the award, it is fair to say maybe we would have made a different decision.”
Ms Curtis-Taylor was unavailable for comment last night.


http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/se ... spartandhp

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#83 Post by More Aviation » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:28 am

When Ms Curtis-Taylor crashed in Arizona earlier this year on the third leg of a round-the-world flight, Mr Gritsch was seen scrambling from the wreckage. 

His presence triggered widespread protest on respected flight forums Flyer and the Professional Pilots Rumour Network.

Changed not to contaminate Flyer with my mirth.

=))

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#84 Post by Boac » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:39 am

Shirley you meant
respected flight forum Flyer and the dreadfully moderated site Professional Pilots Rumour Network.
?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#85 Post by More Aviation » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:50 am

dreadfully moderated site Professional Pilots Rumour Network.


Looking at some of the shenanigans that have afflicted the place (due in part to a rogue mod element) in the last couple of years that is the least of it.

There are of course many good people that post there too.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#86 Post by More Aviation » Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:57 pm

Ms Curtis-Taylor just doesn't seem to know when to stop digging. Is she going to sue the Light Aircraft Association? The press? TOP? Ops-Normal or any one of the myriad of sources worldwide who have called some of her claims into question?

A British aviator who flew from South Africa to the UK has dismissed claims that she lied about being the sole pilot on the 8,000-mile expedition.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor retraced Lady Mary Heath's trailblazing 1928 journey in 2013 - flying in a classic 1940s open cockpit Boeing Stearman biplane from Cape Town to Goodwood, Sussex.

It was claimed she only flew a handful of the 36 legs alone, but the 54-year-old has hit back and denied she made "false assertions", saying she will be taking legal action.

Ms Curtis-Taylor, the self-proclaimed Bird in a Biplane, spoke out after it was revealed an award she received for her flight from Cape Town to the UK has been rescinded.
She said: "I have never sought to mislead anyone about the way that my flights were undertaken.

"It is clear from what I say about the Africa flight and subsequent expeditions that they were not solo flights and that I was accompanied by a support crew."
She added: "I began with the intention of trying to fly the Africa flight solo but a combination of elements resulted in fundamental changes being made to the nature of that expedition.

"Several people flew with me on multiple legs between Cape Town and the UK. These included sponsors, film crew and my engineer, Ewald Gritsch."
She said Mr Gritsch was not her flying instructor and did not pilot her aeroplane instead of her on any of the flights - including Africa, Australia or US expeditions.

"Ewald's primary role in all of these expeditions has been to provide engineering, technical and flight planning support," Ms Curtis-Taylor said.

"He is my principal crew and the only person who is fully qualified to look after the aeroplane in what have been some very testing circumstances."

It was reported Mr Gritsch alleged he occupied the forward cockpit of the plane for most of the legs of her solo flights, saying she only flew four of them alone.

But in a statement he dismissed the claims he made such allegations and said Ms Curtis-Taylor was "the sole pilot on all her expedition flights".

"She has more than enough flight-experience as well as piloting and navigational skills to perform all of these flights on her own," he added.

"My role during the expedition from Cape Town to England was initially the reassembly of the airplane in Cape Town and the technical support during the expedition.

"Additionally I had to take over the flight planning across Africa at short notice, which was done together with the professional African pilots in our team and two major aviation companies."

He stressed he "did not act as a pilot nor as a flight instructor" on the flights, and has "never been" her flight instructor.

At their annual general meeting the Light Aircraft Association (LAA) stripped Ms Curtis-Taylor of the Bill Woodhams trophy awarded for navigation following the allegations made.

An LAA spokesman said: "We can confirm that a motion was raised by a member to rescind an award of the Bill Woodhams Trophy, made in 2014.

"We confirm that the motion was voted on at our AGM on Saturday October 22 2016 and was carried by a majority of voting members.

"We have no further comment to make on the award or its recipients."


http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/bird-in ... 4107736716

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#87 Post by Ex-Ascot » Mon Oct 24, 2016 5:48 pm

The Honourable Company of Air Pilots have to pull the medal now.

'The Old Tart in a Biplane' award from Bakewell could be be considered =))
'Yes, Madam, I am drunk, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.' Sir Winston Churchill.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#88 Post by Boac » Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:39 am

The whole farce appears to be, as expected, unravelling now. I gather from a mate that HCAP have 'modified' their citation to include dear Ewald as a 'co-pilot' (which he vociferously denies, of course - will he sue HCAP if this quote is true?) and that my mate and his mates are threatening to vote to have any 'inappropriate' award rescinded - which would be a bit embarrassing, non?

The HCAP website still lists her as a co-recipient of the 'Master's Medal' along with the deserving Tim Peake.

Even Wiki is losing it's nerve
"This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy."

Silly woman! She has actually set BACK the great image of women in aviation through this.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#89 Post by More Aviation » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:17 am

I gather from a mate that HCAP have 'modified' their citation to include dear Ewald as a 'co-pilot' (which he vociferously denies, of course - will he sue HCAP if this quote is true?)


If true, it represents a master stroke and shows more genius in the world of spin than that of a Sikorksy rotor blade! I wouldn't have believed that the old duffers had the nous and chutzpah in them! :)

She really should have stood up at the first and fessed up. As you say, she has put the image of the female flyer back with this farrago of fact and myths.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#90 Post by Boac » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:44 am

One also remains convinced that as Prince Michael appears to demonstrate, some of our noble 'Royal' family are a few jewels short of a tiara. :)) How much do we pay him?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#91 Post by Boac » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:46 pm

I wonder how Amanda Harrison feels now? She, if you recall, lost her sponsorship for a GENUINE solo flight to Aus in a Tiger following TCT's trip. Schadenfreude or fury?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#92 Post by More Aviation » Thu Oct 27, 2016 9:12 pm

Boac wrote:I wonder how Amanda Harrison feels now? She, if you recall, lost her sponsorship for a GENUINE solo flight to Aus in a Tiger following TCT's trip. Schadenfreude or fury?


She probably just feels pretty disappointed about how all this has turned out. Nobody has emerged having benefited from this tawdry affair. If I was TCT I would take a long sabbatical out of the public eye.

Maybe Ms Harrison can resurrect her flight plan.

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#93 Post by 500N » Thu Oct 27, 2016 9:37 pm

I think it proves Sex sells !


Who pulled out of sponsoring Amanda Harrison ?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#94 Post by More Aviation » Fri Oct 28, 2016 3:56 am

500N wrote:I think it proves Sex sells !

Who pulled out of sponsoring Amanda Harrison ?


Ms Harrison's trip blog is still extant. Read details of sponsorship here. Ultimately the TCT/Artemis publicity juggernaut so outshone Ms Harrison's publicity effort that her potential sponsors didn't bite and the TCT 3 monkey show effectively pulled the financial runway from underneath the wheels of the other flight.

http://amandajharrison.com/

When do you give up?
By Amanda Harrison

Now that’s a question . . . that is 2 questions!

When do I give up, when I tell you of all the mountains and hurdles I have had to overcome? Today was supposed to be my take off day for the #Race2Darwin but instead you find me writing this and not being able to find the words to say, “I have failed once again”. Oh, I can hear the cries of ‘I told you so’ coming through loud and clear!! Yes there will be a lot of people who will be very glad that I have failed once again. Is that because it makes their lives ok in the fact that they didn’t try in the first place? Is that when they would have given up?

When would you give up? At the first no? At the last ‘no’ this week when the promised loan didn’t happen meaning I only had enough funds to get to Iran? So at the moment I have to give in; but I will never give up. Yes I am devastated, however, last night the plan was rehatched and reformed for a better adventure.

When you ‘fail’ there are always plenty of people ready to jump in and say “I told you so”. Well I want to ask them the other half of the question.

When do you, as in YOU, give up on your dreams, your hopes, your desires… your life? And I ask you that in the quiet moments when you look back on your life and truthfully say to yourself, I wanted to be a (……. Fill in the blank……. ). An astronaut, policeman, doctor who saves lives, actor who inspires lives, a parent who brings up their children to be a good influence in the world?

Maybe you wanted to win the noble peace prize. Wow, what a statement for a kid to say: ‘When I grow up I want to win the noble peace prize’. But maybe if we inspire a future generation to want to do that when they grow up, how wonderful would that world be that we live in.

So no, I have not taken off today following my dream; however I have had the courage to stand up and give it 110% of my effort. And next year, watch this space.

I would like to thank everyone who has given their time, support and encouragement on this adventure… the list is long. (Check out the sponsor page). To assure those people, (not the ‘I told you so people’) that I will be back and stronger – and I will succeed!

To my sponsors I deeply appreciate all your help and support . . thank you

So I ask YOU, do I give up now? Or do I carry on, postpone (as I don’t have the money), make more money and then carry on? Because sometimes there has to be people who don’t give up, no matter what the hurdle or mountain to climb. Because if Amy Johnson could do it, then so can I. And so can you.

Ask yourself today, when would you give up? Or have you already?
 
‘Blue skies’

Amanda

MA

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#95 Post by More Aviation » Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:35 am

In the interim Mss TCT fulminates as Flyer Magazine tells us...


https://www.flyer.co.uk/tracey-curtis-t ... ghts-back/

‘Bird in a Biplane’ pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor has come out fighting against what she calls “false assertions” about her various flight expeditions. “I consider this to be part of a course of conduct designed to cause damage and distress,” said Curtis-Taylor in a statement on her Facebook page.

This follows the rescinding on an award made by the Light Aircraft Association (LAA) to Curtis-Taylor for her 2014 Cape Town to UK flight in a Boeing Stearman biplane. A vote to rescind the award at the LAA’s annual general meeting on 22 October was carried by a majority of proxy votes.

Curtis-Taylor said, “I have stated publicly previously (11 June 2016) that 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 and that I have claimed them as such. I have previously stated they were not ‘solo flights’. 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.

“The source referred to is Sam Rutherford who was initially a flight planning and logistics sub-contractor to the Africa expedition,” continued Curtis-Taylor’s statement.

“Mr Rutherford has engaged in an online media campaign to discredit me and the BIAB team members by making false assertions concerning the expeditions and the roles of team members. I consider this to be part of a course of conduct designed to cause damage and distress.”

Curtis-Taylor told the Telegraph, “I began with the intention of trying to fly the Africa flight solo, but a combination of elements resulted in fundamental changes being made to the nature of that expedition.

“Several people flew with me on multiple legs between Cape Town and the UK. These included sponsors, film crew and my engineer, Ewald Gritsch.”



In reply, Sam Rutherford told FLYER:

“The word ‘solo’ is in the public domain an almost innumerable number of times, I am not aware of a single time that this has been corrected by her until recently.
“Whilst my complaint has always been about the veracity of her statements, I have obviously been very, very careful to only state that which I know to be absolutely, and demonstrably, true.  This remains the case.”


https://www.facebook.com/birdinabiplane ... 1483102527

STATEMENT OF 24 OCTOBER 2016
1. This statement is made in response to commentary appearing in the media concerning the Light Aircraft Association (“LAA”) and the rescission of the Bill Woodhams Trophy which was made to me in 2014 in respect of the Cape Town to Cairo flight that year for a “feat of navigation, aviation, tenacity and endurance.”
2. The circumstances of the rescission are as follows:
a. The AGM of the LAA was held 21 October 2016 at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. The first public reference to the agenda which included the motion “for the Review of the Woodhams’ Trophy to Tracey Curtis-Taylor” was on 4 October 2016 and was brought by two members - Barry Tempest and Chris Martyr. Prior to the AGM over 100 proxy votes had been cast in favour of the motion, along with proxy votes on the resolutions at the meeting, following the online media campaign referred to below.
b. At the AGM itself there was a broadly-based lack of knowledge among members present about this motion, the fact that I had made any previous public statements, or the fact that proxy votes had already been cast. It was suggested to the Chairman of the meeting (LAA Chairman, Brian Davies) that in the circumstances the motion should be held over to another meeting to allow a full discussion – but this was refused. At the meeting, members expressed their discomfort and that an injustice was being carried out. Of the members actually present at the meeting (about 70), the overwhelming majority voted against the motion or abstained, but the motion was nevertheless carried by the proxy votes previously cast.
3. I have stated publicly previously (11 June 2016) that 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 – and that I have claimed them as such. I have previously stated they were not “solo flights”. 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.
4. The source referred to is Sam Rutherford who was initially a flight planning and logistics sub-contractor to the Africa expedition. By the end of that flight our logistics and flight planning were withdrawn from Mr Rutherford and brought in-house. Mr Rutherford was not engaged further by the BIAB expeditions from UK to Australia, or across USA.
5. Mr Rutherford has engaged in an online media campaign to discredit me and the BIAB team members by making false assertions concerning the expeditions and the roles of team members. I have previously stated publicly that I consider this to be part of a course of conduct designed to cause damage and distress. Mr Rutherford’s campaign is also promoted by his associate, Mike Flynn (who also operates under the pseudonym, Jay Sata) in the press and in online forums, and in particular Pprune. The actions of Mr Rutherford are now the subject of legal proceedings and have been reported to the police. Sam Rutherford is a member of the LAA – he was not present at the AGM but was represented by his proxy, Chris Martyr (see above).
6. I have received many expressions of support at the AGM referred to above (where I was present in person), from supporters of my flying and outreach programmes, and from my sponsors and affiliates, for which I am very grateful.
Tracey Curtis-Taylor
24 October 2016


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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#96 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Oct 28, 2016 3:12 pm

See that our Trace didn't attend the bash in town last night.
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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#97 Post by 500N » Fri Oct 28, 2016 5:25 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:See that our Trace didn't attend the bash in town last night.


You mean the one where she was supposed to talk ?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#98 Post by Boac » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:19 pm

Probably the one where she was going to tell the Ermined Master about her solo flight to Aus?

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#99 Post by More Aviation » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:28 pm

Guys, get you ***** together and help one these girls fly...

Remember full all as your your ***** as you are, you are ex-RAF pilots...

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Re: Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives in Darwin

#100 Post by Boac » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:35 pm

Sorry, MA - when you are feeling better, say again................

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