British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor has completed her solo flight from Farnborough to Sydney, inspired by pioneer woman pilot Amy Johnston’s 1930 solo flight from the UK to Australia.
The epic 21,000km flight in a 1943 Boeing Stearman biplane saw Curtis-Taylor depart Farnborough near London on October 1 last year and visit 23 countries on her way to landing in Sydney on Saturday.
Curtis-Taylor explained that she has “always been inspired by the achievements of pioneers like Amy Johnson. This expedition from the UK to Australia was the realisation of a burning desire to fly my beloved Boeing Stearman Spirit of Artemis around the world, following in their footsteps whilst hoping to inspire the next generation to follow their dreams.”
“Tracey’s flight is a wonderful reminder of how far aviation has advanced and the role women have played since those early days of flight,” said Maureen Dougherty, president of Boeing Australia and South Pacific. Curtis-Taylor’s flight was sponsored by Boeing.
“Congratulations to Tracey and her support team on this remarkable achievement.”
Curtis-Taylor is due to speak about her adventures at a lunch in Melbourne hosted by Aviation-Aerospace Australia on January 20. For details visit the Aviation-Aerospace Australia website here.
Finished @SydneyAirport! End of huge adventure, thank you everyone who supported me. Stay tuned for updates #GBtoOz pic.twitter.com/TDjEcDBcjU
— Tracey Curtis-Taylor (@biplanebird) January 9, 2016
