Female pilot lands in Sydney after epic journey from Britain in 1942 biplane

SYDNEY, Australia — British aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor flew her open-cockpit biplane across Sydney Harbour and landed at the city’s international airport on Saturday, completing a three-month journey from England to retrace a pioneering feat of early aviation. The 53-year-old aviator set out from Farnborough on Oct. 1 to follow the flight path of legendary aviator Amy Johnson, who in 1930 became the first woman to fly solo between Britain and Australia. “Seeing all the most iconic landscapes, geology, vegetation, just the best view in the world,” Curtis-Taylor told waiting media. “Very few people get to fly it like I just did.” Braving sea spray and smog in her “Spirit of Artemis,” a reconditioned piston-engine plane, Curtis-Taylor crossed 22,000 km and 23 countries using 8,000 liters (2,100 gallons) of fuel. She had struggled to secure supplies of “avgas,” or aviation gasoline, not readily available at many modern airports, and relied on a support plane that followed behind. “In doing something like this you have to be absolutely self-sufficient,” Curtis-Taylor said in an interview before her arrival. “We have done something like 54 stops and that is what takes the time.” — Reuters