Tracey Curtis-Taylor

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This article is about the aviator. For the fictional television character Tracy Curtis-Taylor, see That's My Mama.
Tracey Curtis-Taylor
File:Spirit of Artemis flown by Tracey Curtis-Taylor, Amy Johnson Memorial Air Show, Herne Bay, England; August 2015.jpg
Spirit of Artemis flown by Tracey Curtis-Taylor, Amy Johnson Memorial Air Show, Herne Bay, England; August 2015
Born Tracey Curtis
1962
Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK
Nationality English
Occupation Pilot and flying instructor

Tracey Curtis-Taylor (born 1962) is a British aviator. She is a commercial pilot and flying instructor and also undertakes global flights in vintage aircraft.[1]

Early life

Curtis-Taylor was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire in 1962[2] and grew up in Cumbria.[3] She has a twin sister.[4] From 1964 to 1972 the family lived in Canada.[4]

Curtis-Taylor initially became interested in aviation while visiting air shows on the west coast of Canada with her family;[5] her father in particular had a passion for vintage cars and planes.[6] She had her first flying lesson at the age of 16, in British Columbia. She started to fly more regularly while living in New Zealand in the early 1980s, first in Queenstown and later at Ardmore Aerodrome in Auckland. In Auckland she earned her private and commercial pilot's licences, and her instructor rating.[1][4] While there, she joined the New Zealand Warbirds and began to fly vintage planes and to learn aerobatics and formation flying.[5]

Career

In 2011, Curtis-Taylor flew in the Flying Legends show at Duxford Aerodrome, England.[7][8] She has also performed as a display pilot at the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England,[9] and in 2015 flew at the Amy Johnson Memorial Air Show at Herne Bay, Kent, England.[10]

Cape Town to Goodwood flight, 2013

In 2013, Curtis-Taylor flew a Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplane in an eight week journey, covering over 13,000 km, from Cape Town, South Africa to Goodwood Aerodrome, England.[11] The journey comprised a total of 38 legs and 110 flying hours,[9][11] and followed the 1928 flight of Mary, Lady Heath, from Cape Town to Cairo, Egypt,[1][12] travelling over Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. One section of Lady Heath's flight, the leg through Libya, could not be completed by Curtis-Taylor due to security issues.[5]

Curtis-Taylor was accompanied by a film crew, support crew and sponsors in a support aeroplane,.[13][14] who were often invited into the Stearman to share the experience. One of the legs of the journey was shared with a retired air force pilot and historian, Bill Sykes, and sought to locate the site where Lady Heath crash-landed in 1928.[4]

The journey took five years to prepare for, including finding a biplane which would cope with the heat of Africa.[5] After a search in several countries, Curtis-Taylor decided to have a 1942 Boeing Stearman restored.[9] As a result, the biplane was similar to Lady Heath's in size and design, but had some improvements such as a more powerful engine, additional fuel tanks,[15] and a GPS navigation system.[11]

Curtis-Taylor also sourced sponsors for the trip, including Boeing and ExecuJet Aviation Group.[5] The main sponsor was Artemis Investment Management, and the biplane was hence named Spirit of Artemis.[11]

Farnborough to Sydney flight, 2015-16

On 1 October 2015 Curtis-Taylor departed from Farnborough, England, flying Spirit of Artemis, arriving in Sydney, Australia on 9 January 2016.[16] The journey was inspired by pioneer aviator Amy Johnson, who flew solo from England to Australia in 1930. The flight path saw Curtis-Taylor fly across 23 countries in 50 legs,[17][18] and was longer than Johnson's flight as certain areas in the Middle East could not be flown through.[19] Although the flight was planned to cover 21,000 km, Curtis-Taylor actually covered 27,000 km.[19]

Curtis-Taylor was accompanied by a support crew of engineers, and a film crew, who travelled in a separate aircraft.[20] Similarly to the Cape Town to Goodwood flight, these supporters were invited to join her in the cockpit to enjoy the experience.[6] Curtis-Taylor also took royalty for rides in the plane, including Prince Hamzah and Princess Basmah of Jordan, and Prince Nikolaos of Greece.[19]

A number of stopovers were scheduled into the flight, often with the aim of introducing Curtis-Taylor to local communities and to inspire others, particularly women.[21] In Dubai, the plane was part of the Boeing display at the Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates,[6] while Curtis-Taylor was a keynote speaker at the International Aviation Women's Association conference.[22] In Cyprus, Curtis-Taylor met Royal Air Force Tornado pilots.[19]

In Pakistan Curtis-Taylor was hosted by Squadron Leader Saira Batool of the Pakistani Air Force,[23] and visited a school in Karachi with Pakistani mountaineer Samina Baig to speak about their adventures and to inspire the children.[24][25] In Singapore, she met with girls and women involved in the UN Women programme Girls2Pioneers, which aims to encourage young women into STEM careers.[21]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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