Amy Johnson she ain’t
‘Solo’ flying poster girl is brought down to earth by claims that she had co-pilot
shE is the poster girl for female pilots the world over and renowned for re-creating the solo exploits of the intrepid Amy Johnson.
But it has emerged Tracey Curtis-Taylor, 54, the self-styled ‘Bird in a bi-plane’, honoured for flying across the globe single-handedly, may have had a co-pilot.
The man who planned one of her journeys said she ‘embellished the truth’ about her flights, and flew just four of 36 legs alone.
in the forward cockpit was co-pilot Ewald Gritsch, 50, a highly experienced pilot known as the Neil Armstrong of vintage aircraft.
But in a statement Miss Curtis-Taylor said: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, i have always been the sole pilot’, despite Mr Gritsch saying ‘it was not a solo flight’.
she claims Mr Gritsch was simply a passenger but sam Rutherford, her logistics manager, said the airman gave her vital flight instruction and helped with engineering.
On the surface the former waitress’s trips mirrored some of history’s greatest exploits by flying women.
The trip from Cape Town, south Africa, to Goodwood, West sussex, in 2013 was first completed solo by Lady Mary heath in 1928. Miss Curtis-Taylor even received an award from the Light Aircraft Association for the 10,000-mile-flight.
And Mr Gritsch was on board for parts of a trip from Farnborough to sydney, where she arrived in January after a flight covering 23 countries in 50 legs, recreating Amy Johnson’s 1930 flight.
The honourable Company of Air Pilots awarded her its Master’s Medal for 2016 for the flight.
But Mr Rutherford has now said the many awards she has won are ‘a betrayal of the great solo flights and expeditions’ she has sought to re-trace.
he watched her receive the accolades but kept quiet about his concerns until May this year when his former employer crashed in Arizona. Mr Gritsch was seen to crawl out of the wreckage with her, triggering a social media storm of speculation about the solo nature of her flights. At that point Mr Rutherford, 44, decided to go public, realising that the deceit had become common knowledge in the flying community.
he said: ‘i kept quiet for a couple of years out of professionalism. But it troubled me. Then i saw her being lauded and the more awards i saw being given to her the more i realised i had to speak out.
‘it is a betrayal of the great solo flights and expeditions because there has been nothing solo about any of this.’
Miss Curtis-Taylor also faces questions about why Mr Gritsch appears to have been edited out of BBC4 documentary The Woman Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix, aired on BBC4 in March 2015 about her first big flight from Cape Town to Goodwood.
his only brief appearance in the film comes when the plane breaks down and he is seen trying to fix it. But he is not named or introduced and we don’t hear him speak.
Other than that, the back of his head can be partially glimpsed in the front cockpit. The film introduced the Cape Town journey as ‘ten thousand miles with no modern technology, just a joystick and pedals’. But Mr Rutherford pointed out the vintage plane was equipped with the latest navigational devices and GPs.
he added: ‘Ewald Gritsch not only helped fly the plane, he owned it, rebuilt it in preparation for her flights and having him on board is like having the Neil Armstrong of vintage aircraft with you. he is a hugely accomplished pilot.’
Miss Curtis-Taylor’s website posted: ‘ For the avoidance of doubt, i have always been the sole pilot of spirit of Artemis.
‘ in planning the expedition through Africa in 2013 there was an initial hope of a solo flight in the beautiful & original 1942 Boeing stearman. however, in the early stages of the flight this concept was intentionally and officially dropped.’
Mr Gritsch admits he was in the forward cockpit for ‘the majority’ of the flights from Cape Town to Goodwood and Farnborough to sydney. he said: ‘The situation was that it was not a solo flight.’
sponsors Boeing and Artemis refused to comment and the BBC said it bought the documentary from production firm Nylon, who also declined to comment.