aerial odyssey revisited

A British aviatrix retracing the historic 1930 solo journey of pioneering pilot Amy Johnson from Britain to Australia in a vintage bi-plane on Tuesday. Inspired by her compatriot’s “strong determination” and “fathomless bravery”, 53-year-old Tracey Curtis-Taylor is emulating Johnson’s aerial odyssey in a restored open cockpit 1942 Boeing Stearman, christened ‘Spirit of Artemis’. Calling herself a ‘bird in a bi-plane’, Tracey started her journey on October 1 from Farnborough Airport in Hampshire in the UK and is scheduled to reach Sydney sometime early January next year. “This is my first visit to India and I am thrilled about it, whatever I have seen so far, mostly from up there... Given, the Indo-British connection of several centuries, and our joint aviation history, I consider this an exciting part of the entire journey,” she told reporters. Tracey and her crew reached New Delhi on Monday, where she is currently staying before leaving for her next stop Agra on November 26, a defence official said, adding that her first stop in India was Ahmedabad. “India is the centrepiece of my journey and also geographically the heart of the space that I would be traversing, so, I have reached half-way through almost,” Tracey said.