A different age, as they say, but can anyone explain to me why that would be considered either safe – for him or other incidental, potential victims – or even sain by the authorities? There must have been responsible people in charge at airfields at the time whose actions to turn a blind eye surely would have made them accessories in the event of an incident.

The more the stories roll out of the things he has done the more I begin to wonder if he was fully covered by all the regulations, licenses, insurance requirements, etc, or is it more a case of him being extremely lucky everytime he leaves the ground (in which case let him fly – but only in the empty wilds of Africa with a strict order never to fly over any habitation of any sort – which he’d probably ignore since he is just so damned lucky!)

…Which wouldn’t have been burned away (ie cleaned) in the high temperatures on reentry?

Yeah, ok, it was a man along the road who, last Summer, was debating whether it was really worth sorting out his ‘classic’ 1974 Land Rover out because he was fairly certain it would majorly fail its MoT. I haven’t seen it recently so I’m guessing he come to a decision, but without wanting more thread drift…I assumed, etc.

Do the rally organizers provide any sort of medical, rescue of breakdown help?
If not, they should.

And the pilots involved would be wise to have all the navigation and safety devices that have been available or deemed necessary by the organisers – not bimble along with a compass that doesn’t work in an aeroplane with an engine that seems to have questionable reliability. Ok, maybe he really doesn’t trust ‘newfangled’ technology like GPS or even radios but, when the organisers are essentially the recovery service, it won’t help his reputation that he gets lost or suffers engine failures without the means to let anyone know where he is or what is happening, which generates media attention. Maybe that is why he has been asked to leave the rally?

Kenneth says Kirk is a disgrace to aviation: please, don’t shoot the messenger. We have no freely available information on how Kirk prepared for this trip (the rally’s website has no news after 26/10/16) but, to the casual observer reading about his exploits in their newspaper, it does appear that he didn’t seem to do much thinking about what might be required.
If you think of the other pilots on this rally who have done the right thing, who have all the right equipment on board, who may have suffered the odd incident but did prepare themselves for what could happen, then isn’t it all a little galling that this one man is creating lots of bad publicity for the rally as a whole? One caller on Radio 5 was happy to make it all into some sort of joke, that this geriatric pilot had actually only gone up for a quick fly around the town but ended up in Africa, holding the map upside down and falling asleep after nibbling on three digestive biscuits and a cup of tea… Oh yes, that helps the image of aviation no end.
In a world where an airliner appears to have crashed because the pilot appears to have believed it would fly powered by thin air, aviation needs positive news – or, at least, no stories about pilots without compasses not getting lost or suffering several engine failures, no matter how small their aeroplane.

Did I see a short piece in one of the national papers saying he had been asked to leave the rally while in the Sudan/Ethiopia area after carrying out a forced landing on that sector?

Indeed: Google is your friend, although other search engines are available. Take your pick of reasons:

23/11/16

Organisers of the Vintage Air Rally said he had been asked to withdraw from the rally because of a lack of satellite tracking or a working compass on his 1943 Piper Cub plane.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-38075255

26/11/16

Previously rally organisers said Mr Kirk had been asked to withdraw from the rally due to a “mismatch in expectations” and was no longer officially part of it, but he had decided to continue to fly.
They said they would continue to help him until he reaches Kenya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-38116281

Right, can of worms opened. Incoming?

One week on from ‘exclusively’ telling the world that he couldn’t go outside without blanket security, Nigel ‘me me me’ Farage has still not told the police about the death threats he has apparently had, unlike Brexiteer Gina Miller. Ever eager to remain in the spotlight, you may make of this information what you will; I am assuming that the usually thirsty fantasist Farage is busy weaving fairy tale banter about himself to support a move across the pond to become the court jester of president gropey.

That would be up to the owner, I’d imagine.

Are you following me around? I could get a court order, you know.

Your ‘purple prose’ means that you are related to the late, lamented Barbara Cartland.

Please tell us that it is so !

No, my hair is not only all my own but not dyed either, which is more than can be said about Johns.

Anyway, back to marching for Nigel… Is it true that the real reason there will be no march is because (despite what the Mail thinks) the law insists that due process has to be seen to be done and a march would be just a waste of time, energy and money for people who have very little left of two of those but lots of the third?