Some flying eccentricity
Nov 25, 2016 14:50:16 GMT
Post by iancapetown on Nov 25, 2016 14:50:16 GMT
A PILOT with a history of eccentricity has found himself in the news again, after a forced landing and a later crash during the vintage air rally from Crete to Cape Town.
Maurice Kirk, 72, from Wales, was due to land in Gambela, western Ethiopia, on Tuesday in his 1943 Piper Cub, but the organisers said he had gone missing.
Kirk had previously argued with the rally’s director, Sam Rutherford, as they flew south from Khartoum. On a previous trip across the desert Kirk had boasted about flying “below camel level”.
He was asked to retire from the rally after two engine failures en route to Khartoum. Organisers said their decision was based on a “mismatch in expectations”.
Instead of accepting defeat, though, he tried to follow the other 20-plus aircraft in the Air Armada, and when he failed to appear by nightfall, the organisers raised the alarm.
Terry Holloway, vice-chairman of the Air League, told the Times of London: “He turned up yesterday morning, having spent the night in his plane, or under the wing, in the desert. We are delighted he is safe and well but many of us were bewildered that Maurice was allowed to be part of such a trip, given his record.
“He is well known in aviation circles to be a liability. He flies without a licence and cuts corners. He has guts and is probably quite an accomplished pilot but he is a nightmare. As eccentrics go, they don’t get any weirder than Maurice Kirk.”
Asked what kind of state Kirk was in, Holloway said: “I don’t know, but knowing Maurice, he’s probably causing as much mayhem as possible.”
As a possible result of Kirk’s wayward behaviour, “the Ethiopian authorities have elected to allocate them accommodation at the airport rather than their pre-booked hotel”, Holloway said.
Diplomats from the UK, Ireland and the US were involved in the release of the group on Thursday, after two days’ detention and were able to continue their flights down the African continent..
Officials impounded 10 aircraft flying with the rally, including five biplanes. “Gambela is not an international airport,” a government spokesman said. “They need permission to fly over.”
Kirk, a former drinking partner of actor Oliver Reed, had been a vet in south Wales but was struck off for “disgraceful behaviour” in 2002.
He lost his pilot’s licence in 2008 after landing near President George W Bush’s ranch. “I thought I could knock on his door and leave a note to thank him for the US coastguard saving my life,” he said, referring to another of his mishaps, where his plane went down in waters off the Dominican Republic during a solo flight in 2005.
Kirk has a long history of bizarre behaviour, having competed in the 2001 London-to-Sydney air race and then decided to extend his adventures into an around-the-world flight. He had his Piper Cub rebuilt after crashing it in Japan in 2005 as he tried to land on a highway being built 300km north of Tokyo.
Kirk also had the aircraft coated in shark-repelling paint.
The Vintage Air Rally bills itself as a “flying rally across Africa, from Crete to Cape Town,” for planes built in the early 20th century..
“Vintage Air Rally crew are allowed to fly on from Ethiopia! The adventure continues!,” was posted on the rally’s website.
Maurice Kirk, 72, from Wales, was due to land in Gambela, western Ethiopia, on Tuesday in his 1943 Piper Cub, but the organisers said he had gone missing.
Kirk had previously argued with the rally’s director, Sam Rutherford, as they flew south from Khartoum. On a previous trip across the desert Kirk had boasted about flying “below camel level”.
He was asked to retire from the rally after two engine failures en route to Khartoum. Organisers said their decision was based on a “mismatch in expectations”.
Instead of accepting defeat, though, he tried to follow the other 20-plus aircraft in the Air Armada, and when he failed to appear by nightfall, the organisers raised the alarm.
Terry Holloway, vice-chairman of the Air League, told the Times of London: “He turned up yesterday morning, having spent the night in his plane, or under the wing, in the desert. We are delighted he is safe and well but many of us were bewildered that Maurice was allowed to be part of such a trip, given his record.
“He is well known in aviation circles to be a liability. He flies without a licence and cuts corners. He has guts and is probably quite an accomplished pilot but he is a nightmare. As eccentrics go, they don’t get any weirder than Maurice Kirk.”
Asked what kind of state Kirk was in, Holloway said: “I don’t know, but knowing Maurice, he’s probably causing as much mayhem as possible.”
As a possible result of Kirk’s wayward behaviour, “the Ethiopian authorities have elected to allocate them accommodation at the airport rather than their pre-booked hotel”, Holloway said.
Diplomats from the UK, Ireland and the US were involved in the release of the group on Thursday, after two days’ detention and were able to continue their flights down the African continent..
Officials impounded 10 aircraft flying with the rally, including five biplanes. “Gambela is not an international airport,” a government spokesman said. “They need permission to fly over.”
Kirk, a former drinking partner of actor Oliver Reed, had been a vet in south Wales but was struck off for “disgraceful behaviour” in 2002.
He lost his pilot’s licence in 2008 after landing near President George W Bush’s ranch. “I thought I could knock on his door and leave a note to thank him for the US coastguard saving my life,” he said, referring to another of his mishaps, where his plane went down in waters off the Dominican Republic during a solo flight in 2005.
Kirk has a long history of bizarre behaviour, having competed in the 2001 London-to-Sydney air race and then decided to extend his adventures into an around-the-world flight. He had his Piper Cub rebuilt after crashing it in Japan in 2005 as he tried to land on a highway being built 300km north of Tokyo.
Kirk also had the aircraft coated in shark-repelling paint.
The Vintage Air Rally bills itself as a “flying rally across Africa, from Crete to Cape Town,” for planes built in the early 20th century..
“Vintage Air Rally crew are allowed to fly on from Ethiopia! The adventure continues!,” was posted on the rally’s website.
)