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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Cape Town to Goodwood

Good luck to Tracey Curtis-Taylor, who begins her flight from Cape Town to Goodwood, following Lady Heath's route, early in November. The flight takes place in the the 85th anniversary year of Lady Heath's 1928 flight which was the first by a woman in a small plane across Africa south to north.
Lady Heath flew a tiny Avro-Avian bi-plane, designed for short flits by private owners. Tracey will fly a slightly sturdier open cockpit Stearman bi-plane, a US Air Force trainer that was widely used in the 1930's. "The Spirit of Artemis " has a top speed of 95mph, a height ceiling of 10,000 ft and a range of only 450 miles.
Like Lady Heath, Tracey will have to pick her landing spots carefully on a journey that passes over Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. She will also have to ensure a supply of  airplane fuel all along the route. A chase plane will fly alongside her, filming every moment of the journey.
Tracey hopes to complete her flight in about six weeks, arriving at Goodwood in mid-December.
* Artemis, twin sister of Apollo, is the Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals and the wilderness. "Her proper sphere is the earth, and specifically the uncultivated parts, forests and hills, where wild beasts are plentiful", Oxford Classical Dictionary. Artemis is also the name of one of the sponsors for this venture.
* Full details of the flight at http://www.capetowntogoodwood.com/.

3 comments:

Tony Skipper said...

Good luck, but a pity that you can't get the Union Jack the correct way up on your plane. What a poor start!

Lindie Naughton said...

Have had a quick zip through the blog and can find no sign of a Union Jack
...?

aeromike said...

It depends which side is the flagstaff: If it is towards the front of the a/c, the flag is perfectly correct. Good start Tracy. Will you be carrying flown covers?
Aeromike