Tracey Curtis-Taylor: Adventurer completes 13,000-mile flight from UK to Australia in vintage biplane
53-year-old pilots 1942 open-cockpit aircraft over 23 countries, making 50 refuelling stops on her epic journey
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British adventurer Tracey Curtis-Taylor has completed a 13,000-mile flight from the UK to Australia in a vintage biplane. The 53-year-old piloted a 1942 open-cockpit aircraft over 23 countries, making 50 refuelling stops on her epic journey – and all without a parachute.
How long did it take her?
The mammoth expedition stretched over three months. Ms Curtis-Taylor, who grew up in England and Canada, set off in the Boeing Stearman plane from Farnborough, Hampshire, in October and finally landed in Sydney on Saturday.
That takes ‘long haul’ travel to another level…
It certainly does, and she was forced to endure punishing weather during the flight. “I've come through monsoons, thunder storms, turbulence, flying through the Australian outback in 45 degrees of heat,” she said after landing. "We fly seven or eight hours a day because we lost a bit of time in Indonesia trying to get through to Darwin - there were tropical cyclones… you are absolutely up against the elements."
What inspired her to make the trip?
The intrepid pilot was retracing the footsteps of Amy Johnson's pioneering flight to Sydney more than 85 years ago. The legendary aviator was the first woman to fly solo between Britain and Australia in 1930. But while Ms Curtis-Taylor flew solo for much of her journey, she was accompanied by a support team of engineers travelling in a separate aircraft and members of a camera crew who would occasionally sit in with her.
What route did she follow?
From the UK, Ms Curtis-Taylor flew through central Europe to reach Turkey. From there she crossed the Mediterranean to Jordan, flew over the Arabian Desert, crossed the Gulf of Oman to Pakistan and India and on to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia before crossing the Timor Sea to Australia. But that isn’t the whole story. She couldn’t follow the exact 1930 route as she was forced to dodge warzones in the Middle East and to navigate 21st century airspace and airport regulations.
Was she relieved to have finished?
The self-styled ‘Bird in a biplane’ said it was a “huge relief” to reach Sydney, joking she needed "a drink” after months in the cockpit. But Ms Curtis-Taylor is no stranger to daring feats. In 2013, she flew a gruelling 8,000-mile solo flight from Cape Town back to the UK in an open-cockpit biplane.
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