J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 Aviation forWomen 25
T
wo weeks before her takeoff,
Tracey Curtis-Taylor told me,
"When I'm praying, I say, 'Give
me t he w i n gs, g ive me t he
chance to do this." It seems her
prayers were answered because, right on
schedule, she took off on October 1, 2015,
from Farnborough Airport (near London)
in a 1942 Boe-
ing Stearman
nicknamed the Spirit of Artemis, headed
for Australia, on a 13,000-mile fight. The
flight includes 50 legs, crossing 23 coun-
tries, and re-creates the 1930 fight of Brit-
ish pilot Amy Johnson.
Tracey's 1942 Boeing Stearman was ful-
ly restored by 3G Classic Aviation in Hun-
gary. It has a 300-hp Lycoming 680 radial
engine, is ftted with extra fuel tanks in the
top wing for increased range, has a top al-
titude of 10,000 feet and a cruise speed of
90 mph.
by Patricia Luebke
Adventure
With a departure date
of October 1, 2015,
the route will take her
nearly 13,000 miles
across Europe and
the Mediterranean to
Jordan, over the Arabian
Desert, across the Gulf
of Oman to Pakistan,
through India and on to
Myanmar, Thailand,
Malaysia, and Indonesia
before crossing the
Timor Sea to Australia.
The fight is expected
to take 12 -14 weeks
with arrival in Sydney
planned for early 2016.
The plane will then be
shipped to America and
fown across the United
States to complete the
world fight in 2016.
At Dubai Airshow
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TRACEY CURTIS-TAYLOR