Search results matching tags 'Around the World Solo Flight' and 'Sponsorship'

Liberty Girl in the Drink

Maurice — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:33:00 GMT

'LibertyGirl' in the drink 82 miles south east of Caicos, West Indies on bearing of 331 degrees from Puerta Plata.

Last position: 20N-45-08 W071-21-29 on the 16th February at approximatly 15:30 local time. 15 knot wind from 120 degrees Magnitude.

She may be floating but dinghy leaking so she may be gone. Fantastic US Coast Guard team - pilots Julie Kuckco and Jeff Cowen AMTC, Brett Crosby winch man AST, Jon Geskus diver. If it wasn't for the beacon around my kneck, I'd be writing this from the bottom of the sea.

SPONSOR WANTED! To raise General Patton's WW2 cub.

Boyancy of Liberty Girl - can anyone calculate if she is still floating off Great Inagua, Bahamas?

She has 26 gallons US in her wings and 10 gallons air space.
Her fuselage is stuffed with polystyrene foam (peanuts).
Cockpit has three half full standard UK refuse bags of foam.
Four man life raft is tied to strut but was leaking as fast as I could pump!

I was dumping fuel from wing tanks from 4,500 feet to 500 feet at say, 400 feet a minute.

If anyone spots her there's a reward of $2000 for sighting and lat/long information.
$4,000 for recovery onto dry land with minimum fuselage damage
N.B. Cut all fabric to release water from wings and fuselage before hauling her gently out of the water or you will destroy her!

NEW WEB SITE IN A WEEK...the old one is stuffed! I stuffed it, due to prolific cutting and pasting from lice ridden emails and bent documents!

London Air show

Maurice — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 05:56:00 GMT

We arrive only to be identified by pilots I have known over so many years, they having travelled from such places as Alderney CI, Northern Ireland to New Zealand leading, of course, to many yarns and tall stories on all matters aviation..

Soon I am chatting to Wing commander Wallis of ‘Little Nellie’ fame, the gyrocopter in the James Bond film, ‘You only live twice’. I had to remind him that it was father that had the first 2 seat gyrocopter in the world, in the early 60’s, designed and built in Newtownards, Northern Ireland by champion motor cyclist, Mr McCandlis. A Royal Navy Lynx helicopter, a Burma Spitfire, a scaled down model of same, from Brisbane, and variously shaped plastic, slippery but slim machines, usually with two stroke engines, all the fashion now in GA, were also scattered about to tempt you. A beautiful ‘Pou de Ciel’ of the 30’s was there, Gen being clearly told never to fly one.

My mission was to get a GPS, charts and find some Insurance. The latter proved as elusive as ever but there are still a few stones yet un turned.

A Captain’s white shirt and epaulettes was next on the shopping list. All I needed now was a hair cut and some lessons in smooth talking, with an air of authority and I was in with a chance. The bureaucratic jungle of Asian Countries, with their notoriously obscure version of logic and the way of doing things, in the minds of the westerner, is a daunting prospect for someone with my particular temperament. At least the Arab and Indian States were behind me! Michael where are you when I need you? I need some of your diplomacy skills for the next sector of this journey.

Well, it was an interesting day and enough for me to forget the Grand National Day as a horse called Nil Desperandum would, no doubt, have lost me a few bob, coming in 6th!

As a staunch Royalist I toast the Royal Couple on their wedding day but still mystified as to how the invitation was lost in the post.

Air Show, Visas, No Insurance! Route?

Maurice — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 05:48:00 GMT

Things to do today:

Find Foreign Office website for visa search for eight countries -
Indonesia, need to visit London
Brunei and Malaysia no visas needed
East Timor need entry permit, get in Darwin
Cambodia arrange on arrival
Laos arrange on arrival
China Vietnam needs a visit to London Embassies
Thailand not needed

Still cannot find a map, chart or Atlas to choose a route, my ‘o’ level education getting a little rusty, or is it a senior moment?

Insurance ….cannot get any anywhere with this and now there’s coffee all over the lap top!!

London Air Show on Friday - might go and find someone there and a sponsor for various pieces of equipment? GPS, charts, headset, handheld, fuel/oil, money?…..name on aircraft!

Now, onto planing a route:

- Darwin to Dili, East Timor
- Dili to Hasannudin
- Hasannudin to Balikpapan
- Balikpapan to Labuan
- Labuan to Ho Chi Minh
- Ho Chi Minh to Phnom
- Penh Phnom to Danang
- Danang to Hanoi
- Hanoi to Macau

D-Day Cub Around the world

Maurice — Thu, 09 Oct 2003 10:36:00 GMT

Flew solo in the London to Sydney Air Race in 2001 in my old and tired 1943 US Army Piper cub, G-KIRK.

I arrived at Sydney harbour first, but later, only to be surrounded by 3 police helicopters suggesting, in their own charming way, that `Air race 35` was quite close enough to the `Old Coat Hanger'.

I stayed awake just long enough to remember being presented with a gorgeous pair of Aus boots by the Prime Minister at the aviator`s banquet afterwards. .

I arrive in HongKong on the 28th to give talks? And leave for Australia on the 31st Oct to rebuild and re-engine the old girl where she is on display at the Museum of Flight in Nawra, Sydney, NSW.

I will be giving an illustrated talk there on the 8th of Nov.and am looking to do more in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne during the 5 weeks I am there. If anyone can suggest venues?

I am looking for SPONSORSHIP to go on around the world next May/June via HongKong, China, Russia and Alaska. When I propose converting to floats for Canada.......OshKosh by August (I have not told the wife which Aug).

I am pursuing the Bear Charities :

re: Koala, Moon, Panda, Brown and Grizzly, just to name a few.

My new non contraversial web site identifying route, sponsors etc will be on line later this winter. www.kirkflyingvet.com

My current web site content caused a very generous US gentleman to sponsor me for the race with only 31 days to prepare! www.kirkflyingvet.co.uk

50 odd aircraft left Biggin Hill for Sydney, myself taking 200 hours, most at 65 miles per hour, experiencing the occasional adventure on the way.

APO (rtd) Maurice Kirk BVSc.MRCVS

dob 12345