If one can take solace from the events of yesterday, and my initial sense of hopelessness, it is that the staff at the Government Technical Institute are qualified to carry out the repairs Jason requires. Thank heavens I landed at an engineering school and not a dancing academy. These people are a credit to the […]
My plan was as follows: head south from Calcutta to where the Arakan Mountains drop to a height that will allow me to cross and reach the Irrawaddy Valley and then to Rangoon. As it is I fear I must confess that landing is not my strongest skill. We crashed at the sports field of […]
When one flies, one often considers falling. The physics of flight aside, there is very little keeping us in the air, aside from Lady Luck herself. Perhaps mankind is not meant to fly, is not meant to dwell in the air. We are defying the hand that nature dealt us. Perhaps it is not wise […]
Things may have been ruined today. Human efforts to fly began with the flapping of our arms to imitate birds. Our dreams of flight are ancient. We take to the skies understanding the physics required for flight in our flying machines but, still, we take to the skies because we were always fascinated and somewhat […]
I rose at 4am today. I continue to believe that I will set a new world record for this solo flight to Australia. I remain ahead of Hinkler. It is clear that news of my audacious mission is spreading, if the welcome I received here at Drigh Road in Karachi is any marker. There were […]
I am in Bandar Abbas. Landing here was a difficult affair as they were not expecting me and I could not even see signs of an aerodrome. I headed for the open space I could see from the air – a stroke of luck that this was the right place – but as we touched […]
My loneliness remains. I pine for home. I am frightened. I have written the same to Jack and shared my encounter with the Taurus Mountains. I do not want him to share that unpleasantness, nor how I am feeling, with anyone. Not that there will be any interest outside of my family. I feel that […]
There are times when one must face down fear. When one comes close to death. When one realises that one’s belief in the future of flying hangs by the loosest of threads. People crash aeroplanes and are never heard from again. That is not to be my fate. Today I encountered a thick layer of […]
I sit here, in a room containing a single bed, dismayed by a cable from my former lover. “Best luck and wishes – Hans.” Yesterday’s success is now behind me and I have been faced, today, with the harsh reality of what is firmly in the past and what lays ahead. I have no idea […]
I have planned to fly alone to Australia for some time now. What an adventure. I’m feeling so full of vim. If I can do this it will be a greater achievement than becoming the first – and only – certified woman aircraft engineer. I circled this date after I’d whispered my plans to a […]