As part of my round the world solo attempt, I am about to leave for the Caribbean to look for Liberty Girl, my WWII Piper Cub, along the shore line of the Bahamas. In February while en route from the Dominican Republic to the Turks and Caicos Islands, bound for Florida, she suffered total engine failure...
A sample of accurate media reporting, for a change. Glamorgan Gem, UK press article covering the latest leg of Maurice's around the world solo flight. April 3rd 2004.
Hawkes Bay Today, New Zealand press article covering Maurice and Liberty Girl's flight prep to Auckland New Zealand. 15th April 2004. A random sample from 200 press cuttings, yet to be published, to indicate the frightening power the press have to manipulate the facts (page 2, in particular) but...
'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...
Thick fog puts a stop to a 6 am flight to Cuba and I do not get away from Leesburg until 09:45 local. The head wind gets worse over the Everglades swamp but what a spectacle of wildlife, especially the Gators, I seemed to check the engine gauges a little more than normal. The fuel consumption is not...
I have just spent the night on the floor of a well carpeted bungalow deep in the suburbs of Hollywood. Hispanics and Afro Americans all around have such broad smiles, reminding me we are forgetting to laugh at ourselves. Tony arrives on the dot of 10 to take me to Liberty Girl and on to Cuba. Slight...
At 7am Chris my current host disappeared to fly Delta Air jets to Europe leaving me to sit on his veranda to wireless into my server for e-mails prior to the days flying. Later Airborne and heading south, the deflated life raft is now tied to Liberty Girl's roof obscuring the view a little, but the...
Judie organised from afar and Pete was my host. The venue was an old, much used hanger on the south end of the private grass strip south east of Ocala, Central Florida. Over 60 people attended to enjoy a hearty feast having wheeled out the Mooney, Stearman and Liberty Girl to make room. We had a good...
A beautiful beach in Dili East Timor, with coco nut trees and locals selling their fish on the road side is my first sight of the day from a hotel balcony in Dili. Plans to leave for Borneo are doubtful. Diesel in my tanks is a different matter it took 2 hours to sort out, leaving it far to late to reach...
Up at dawn to aircraft and away by 8am on somebody' time! Time change due to change in lines of latitude has just about got me beat! If it's not summer time back in old Blighty then it is the Australians having different times on their watches north and south by half an hour! If its 8am on my...