The Lady Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix

Tracey Curtis-Taylor is setting out to fly the length of Africa.

10,000 miles with no modern technology,

just a joystick and pedals.

Tracey will follow the same route as Mary Heath,

the first person to fly solo from Cape Town to England in 1928.

She was in a fur coat. She had her pearls.

She was doing Africa in style.

She was consciously making history and showing that women could do this.

85 years after Mary Heath's African flight,

Tracey will face many of the same challenges.

From the beauty of the wilderness to war-torn countries.

Tracey will also face new challenges -

aviation fuel for her 1920s plane is scarce.

There's more bureaucracy and Tracey wants to do it in less time.

It took Mary Heath over 12 weeks.

Tracey has just seven to reach Europe

before the worst part of the winter.

You're just this tiny speck, moving very slowly.

You are so vulnerable.

I am frightened.

I think, "What am I doing?" I'm more frightened of not doing it.

Ten years from now thinking,

"I wanted to do it but I didn't quite have the courage to do it."

On her arrival back in Britain, Mary Heath was celebrated

as the greatest female pilot in the world

but she died alone, penniless and completely forgotten.

It was a meteoric career and then she disappeared from history.

But she's coming back.

Today, there are still only a few women in the world flying vintage

biplanes. One of the best is Britain's Tracey Curtis-Taylor.

I've always loved the smell of aeroplanes.

I go to airports just to breathe in the kerosene.

All the noise of the engine, the propeller,

they're rattly old things.

Very early on in my flying, I got into flying old aeroplanes.

The women who flew during the '20s

and '30s were a great source of inspiration.

Amy Johnson did the first flight to Australia.

Amelia Earhart flew the Atlantic, the first female to do so.

You know, they are both celebrated and remembered.

But, before all this, there was Mary Heath and, of course,

she's been entirely forgotten.

She starts at Cape Town International Airport.

1-2-9, good morning to you.

Shortly number one and there is traffic departing ahead from echo.

It's one of the busiest in Africa, handling over 200 flights a day.

Today is day one.

And God knows what we're in for, really.

Right.

But I think I'm ready for anything.

The minute you get into one of these aeroplanes, life becomes

very, very immediate.

I don't think of anything else, I'm just there.

Equipment...

Clear prop.

6-3-0 continue the approach. The wind is still 1-8-0-1-5.

I can't see in front of me so I'm looking over the side.

I have to weave and zigzag.

I look like I'm drunk when I'm taxiing.

As Tracey reaches the runway, all other flights are suspended.

The airport has been shut down until she leaves.

November 5-6-200 rolling.

Bye-bye.

Today, Tracey will fly 400 miles along the coast

of the Indian Ocean to Port Elizabeth.

A commercial flight takes 90 minutes.

At her top speed, it will take Tracey almost five hours.

An open cockpit, at low level, it's so beautiful.

You know, the wind is blowing in. You know, it's exciting.

You know, I'm a mile off the coast. 50 feet off the water.

The thrill and exhilaration of it overcomes any sense of prudence.

Mary Heath filed reports on her adventure to newspapers

around the world so an eager public could follow her journey.

She based her book on her reports and the journal she kept.

"Africa will always be the land of thrills and romance and wildlife.

"Fear is a tonic and danger should be something of a stimulant."

It's more than pleasure, it's ecstasy. I love it.

I simply love being in the aeroplane.

As in the 1920s, South Africa is dotted with runways and airports.

They're all well equipped and, at least here, Tracey's

specialist aviation fuel is readily available.

If you can just give me the tank,

I'll go up on the wing and fill it up.

All the fuel is up here in the wing, up on the top here.

Great, thank you.

That'll do it.

Thank you.

Once I leave South Africa I'm really in no-man's-land,

so I'm on my own, much like she was.

And she crashed and was very lucky to survive it.

What happens if I do have an engine failure?

If I survive the crash landing, what happens then?

"I began to feel the pain in the back of the head,

"neck and shoulders which hints at the beginning of sunstroke.

"The pains got worse and black blobs began to dance and flow before me."

Alone in the wilderness, fast losing consciousness,

Mary Heath's plane was hurtling towards the ground.

Tracey, though, does make it to Bulawayo Airport

but she wants to find out more about Mary Heath's crash.

Historian and former RAF pilot Bill Sykes has taken a keen

interest in Mary Heath's flight

and believes he has located the area where she crashed.

Having had a look through all the chronicles, newspapers

and that sort of thing, we find she was an incredibly strong woman.

To be the first person, and especially a woman,

to go from Cape Town to the United Kingdom in 1928

is really something.

Bill takes Tracey on an hour's drive into the bush

to the crash site.

There's lots of thorn bushes and scrub

and it's pretty rugged terrain, isn't it?

I don't think I'd like to put an aeroplane down here.

COW BELLS JINGLE

She was in this sweltering heat, fighting nausea,

fighting consciousness.

If she could just sort of stall the aeroplane on

and then lurch out through the undergrowth,

I mean, she would... You know, you'd survive this.

If I had to put the Stearman down in this,

I'd just about manage it, I think.

She would have been fighting it down. You know, just stick forward,

diving for the ground because she was an aerobatic pilot, a racer.

I think it would've been very natural to jam the stick forward,

-get the aeroplane down.

-You go into automatic.

You do everything that has to be done and I think any pilots,

including me, we've experienced that, where you think afterwards...

You think, "Did I really go through all the checks?

"Did I really do all the right things?"

You look back at it afterwards and you think,

"I don't remember doing that but I did it."

Never had to think about it.

"I came to under some thorn bushes, with three native girls in

"various stages of scanty undress, sitting back on their haunches.

"They had steeped two of my handkerchiefs in milk

"and put them on my head."

I don't think I'd like to wake up and find myself under a thorn bush

being resuscitated but, I suppose, surviving it, that was the thing.

She survived it. She did a pretty good job of it.

I think she did a really good job, yeah.

Rescued by a local tribe, she was taken to Bulawayo to recover.

Anyone who thought she might be put off her adventure

was in for a surprise.

She spent 16 hours asleep in the nursing home and then got up

that morning and flew from the racecourse

to Vic Falls, to Livingstone.

-She carried on.

-She just carried on.

Which I think is also an amazing thing.

She must've had tremendous fortitude.

I mean, any normal person would have given up and said,

"Right, I'll stay in Bulawayo a week because the beer's cold

"and the people are so nice." And it still is.

Mary Heath wasn't the only adventurer in 1928.

Three young men were also attempting to travel

the length of Africa by car.

They planned to meet with Mary at various towns along the route.

Bulawayo's Vintage Car Club has come to the airport

to give Tracey a sendoff.

This is like the cars Mary Heath was tracking as she flew up Africa.

They're stunning. I mean, look at this, British Racing Green.

I would love one of these.

-It is very heavy on the steering.

-Bloody hell, it is!

Oh!

One of the drivers was a journalist called Emil Milan.

Mary and Emil would only meet on a few occasions

but they still enjoyed each other's company.

"I flew very low and dropped a bottle of beer,

"a glass and a message.

"'Godspeed and bon voyage, meet you in Abercorn.'"

I feel there is absolutely no suspension, whatsoever.

I mean, great! This is exactly the same sort of thrill,

old cars and old aeroplanes.

-How do I get out?

-Can you hoot, madam?

Can you hoot?

HORN HOOTS

I reckon she's grand at what she's doing. I wish I could go with her.

But you see, my wife won't let me!

Seven days after leaving Cape Town, Tracey approaches Zambia.

The journey takes her over Zimbabwe National Park

and into the heart of wild Africa.

The Zambezi River marks the border between Zimbabwe

and Zambia. Tracey follows it north to Victoria Falls,

one of the wonders of the world.

This is the heart of Africa. For me, it's just magical.

To fly at tree level, over the elephants, down the valleys...

You know, along the rivers, elephants in the river,

hippos in the river and I am 30 feet above them.

You know...

and then I land.

And I'm moved beyond tears.

It's just to clear any oil.

Perfect.

Bit of rubbish in here.

Ah, I've got my biltong.

I've got my survival blanket, my first aid kit.

My maps.

Tracey's about to take on her longest flight yet.

Having reached the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo,

she'll have to cross the airspace of three countries in just one day

to make it to Tanzania before nightfall.

The Congo is one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

And she must convince the airport controllers

her old plane is safe enough to fly.

Come and have a look. So I fly it from the back seat...

HE CHUCKLES

Good?

Nice?

-HE LAUGHS

-I think she's crazy!

The Congo has been in an almost constant state of civil war

for 60 years.

It's not difficult to fly it, that's straightforward.

The problem is if I have...an engine failure.

Just a sitting duck for somebody with an AK-47

just...filling you with lead.

Safely out of Congo airspace, there's another worry.

Scrub's being burnt away for farmland.

And it's on such a large scale that Tracey struggles to avoid the fumes.

It's taken an extra hour to get around the smoke.

And to reach her destination in Tanzania,

Tracey needs a fuelling stop.

Kasama Airport in northern Zambia has changed little since the 1920s.

Tracey's landing is a big event.

THEY SQUEAL

Hi.

Oh, thank you!

TRACEY LAUGHS

Do you know, these are my favourite flowers, frangipani.

I understand you might need some fuel.

I do, but I've just been told there's none on the field...

-Oh, you'll have to go into town to find it.

-..which is unfortunate.

Really? How far's town?

-Ten minutes.

-Right.

-Is there a loo around here first?

-There certainly is, let me show you.

-I think it's order of priority.

-Definitely!

-It won't be fuel first, then loo?

-The loo and then the fuel.

Thank you for coming to help.

I need a couple of heavies to lift my fuel, I think.

CHUCKLING

-Do you have any aviation fuel?

-Nah!

Do you have any fuel for aeroplanes? WOMAN LAUGHS

That's what I need, seriously.

Well, they're selling eggs.

DOGS BARK

Welcome.

It's loaded, we're ready to go.

Finding the fuel has taken over an hour.

And there are no electronic pumps at the airport.

This could take a while.

Refuelling just as Lady Heath did in 1928.

But there's an additional delay.

We have a lot more paperwork than she does.

We can only operate in our own era.

It's been an exhausting day

and there's another early flight tomorrow.

Mary Heath took time to enjoy Tanzania, going on hunts,

attending parties and playing tennis,

but Tracey is flying gruelling legs each day.

What Mary Heath took a leisurely month to accomplish,

Tracey does in five days.

And the pace is taking its toll.

I've had this, erm, streaming head cold for the last three days,

which has been, erm, horrible.

And I think it's worsened by flying, because you're sort of

up at altitude, and the pressure, and I just have these ringing ears.

We've been doing 12-, 14-hour days, so it's...it's intensive.

And I'm tired, I am actually tired. I think everybody's tired.

And we're only halfway!

Tracey's next flight is over the Rift Valley.

A giant fault line that leads up to the Equator.

Most women in the 1920s

wouldn't be able to dream of an adventure like this.

They were expected to marry and raise children.

Mary Heath had different ideas.

Before her African flight, she married 75-year-old Sir James Heath.

Eyebrows were raised when, instead of going on honeymoon,

Mary ventured on a solo trip up Africa.

Like Mary, Tracey has chosen adventurous flying

over raising children.

When you go the conventional route in life, and that's where

you have a family, I think that sets you on a different course in life.

I'm not in that situation

so I can afford to live my life in a more adventurous way.

She's a survivor but she's an outsider, too.

And I think those are the things that I relate to.

It's her love of adventure and her need for adventure.

You know, it just makes you a misfit.

November 5-6-200 is ready for departure, 0-9.

Fate has somehow conspired to give me this terrifying freedom...

and the aeroplane.

In the Rift Valley, tectonic plates are still moving,

causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Lake Natron is a natural phenomenon.

Its temperature can reach 140 degrees,

and where the water evaporates it leaves a layer of toxic chemicals.

You know, a few people have crashed in the lake,

because you get this distortion and you sort of lose the horizon.

People just become mesmerised by the surface of it.

It's as if somebody has put a pearl in your hand when you can fly.

You know, this rare gift.

It's the view of the gods, isn't it? It's this wonderful perspective.

Next stop, Kenya.

Tracey comes to a nature conservancy outside of Nairobi,

to see some of the few remaining rhinos left in the wild.

Today it's illegal to hunt rhino in Kenya

but they face a new threat.

Rhino horn is mistakenly believed to have medicinal properties

and can fetch up to 100,000 a kilo on the black market.

Tracey's meeting Sarah Watson from the conservation charity Tusk.

His head almost looks like a turtle.

I could just take this little one home, actually.

-I don't think he'd fit in the plane!

-Ooh, I could cram him in.

The extra weight!

OK?

Gone. It's all gone.

So when Mary Heath flew here in 1928, what would she have seen?

-There were hundreds of thousands of them.

-Yeah.

There's pictures from, like, the 1940s, I guess,

-and there's pictures of the herds of cattle with rhino in-between.

-Yeah.

So, yeah, the population's been completely decimated.

Completely decimated.

Rhinos have great hearing but poor eyesight.

A full moon puts them in a spotlight for poachers.

On the last morning of Tracey's stay, there's terrible news.

There has been reported poaching of rhinoceros.

A rhino's been killed. A security team are now hunting the poachers.

-Good morning, how are you?

-Are you John?

-Yeah.

-Tracey. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-I'm sorry. So...another killing.

-Terrible.

-What happened?

The first thing happened is that the gunshots were heard

by one of the lodges which is close here, and the time that we know

that there's gunshot inside here, definitely that's poaching.

Do poachers get killed here?

In case of any contact between the rangers and the poachers,

yeah, lots of times somebody will die.

So it's really a terrible, terrible...

-It's like a war, isn't it?

-No, no, it's a war, it's a war.

-It's not like a war, it's a war.

-It is a war.

We go?

FLIES BUZZING

She have her calf. 2.5 years.

-Where's the baby? Where's the baby?

-The calf is...

-The guys, they are still searching for the calf.

-My God.

What a... What a waste.

I suppose you see a lot of this, but I don't.

You come to these places and it's all so beautiful and idyllic

and we have such an idealised notion of things.

And then you see that.

It's a terrible sort of... juxtaposition, really.

Tracey heads to Nairobi.

She still has 5,000 miles to fly across the hottest

and most dangerous parts of Africa before she returns home to England.

Today I am going to the Mutumba, which is a sort of...

a famous street market, to try and find some gear for the Sudan.

So, yeah, should be quite fun.

Given Tracey's plane only has one small compartment for gear,

she must choose what she takes very carefully.

Do you know, I can never resist a carpet.

I could just about sleep on that in the desert.

-Is that all right?

-Yes.

-Thank you.

So no tent, no tarp, but a nice silk Persian rug.

I think it's a triumph.

Thank you.

Another bargain.

-How much for this?

-This one? Ah, no...

That's what I need, I need that for the Sudan.

-We are not selling this one.

-Where do I buy one like this?

It's because for dusting. I might use it.

It's what they have, though, don't they, in the desert?

OK, you can take it for 300.

Thank you!

I've got a good eye for these things.

Always been good on furnishings, soft furnishings,

so I'm actually delighted.

Tracey now faces a new challenge.

Entebbe in Uganda is on the other side of a high mountain range.

It'll be the first time she's flown it this high.

In 1928, Sudanese authorities were so worried for Mary's safety

that they required her to fly with an escort.

In 2011, Sudan divided into two,

in an attempt to end Africa's longest-running civil war.

But the region is extremely volatile still

and Tracey must find a safe route through.

The Ministry of Defence back in England, when I was briefed on this,

they said...they didn't really want us to go through the Sudan.

But, you know, there are these corridors that

the United Nations use to get stuff through,

so I'm hoping that, you know, we're going to be OK with that.

I am nervous about what lies ahead, it's unknown.

She follows the Nile to Malakal in South Sudan,

on the dangerous border.

Situated on the banks of the Nile

and close to the country's oil reserves,

Malakal is one of the most hotly contested towns in all of the Sudan.

With the conflict situation changing daily,

Tracey wants to make sure her flight path is still safe.

She meets weapons inspector James Bevan,

who's agreed to help her find the best path.

-Tell me about this area out here...

-Yeah.

..because we've got fuel now positioned out to the west here.

-It's clear that there's a lot of, er, armed activity...

-Yeah.

..in and around that area. Particularly the Nuba Mountain area.

Erm, you also have South Sudanese-backed armed forces

who are operating along this area.

And that's where that UN helicopter was shot down.

And they told me they just burnt an entire village as well,

-I mean, it was sort of tribal.

-Yes, a few weeks ago, yeah.

-Was this just a few weeks ago?

-Yeah, killed 80 people.

Erm, but this area, at least two or three rebel groups

that are in negotiations with the government.

So this area's quite calm.

The safest route is to stay close to the Nile and follow it to Khartoum.

Before she can leave, the tower must agree it is, though, safe to fly.

Until then, all she can do is wait.

This was my purchase. Back in Nairobi.

I knew it would come into its own.

So we scrambled at, you know, 6:30 this morning out of the hotel,

got here for seven, all good to go,

and here we are, you know, four hours later.

And we're just waiting to see if word comes through

but our cut-off point is about one o'clock.

I have diminishing hope now of getting out today.

Finally, word comes through.

She could face a long wait in the scorching heat of Malakal,

in a country that is still in a state of civil unrest.

Nothing flushes, there's no running water.

There's a bucket of Nile water. Fine, I just wash in that.

Or not, as the case may be! I've sort of given up.

All personal hygiene has gone to the...

We are now, erm, our third night in Malakal.

I find myself thinking, you know, late into the night,

because it is very difficult to actually sleep in this.

Erm, but I do have these moments of...

I have these moments of...fear.

We're getting out. We're very optimistic about getting out,

so with any luck we'll be airborne

by, I don't know, seven, 7:30 this morning,

have gone up the Nile and into Khartoum by midday.

-Good flight. Good luck.

-Take care. Bye.

Right. Clear prop.

Malakal, good morning. This is November 5-6-200.

After four days in Malakal, Tracey leaves unscathed,

heading over the border into the Republic of Sudan.

Stretching over 4,000 miles,

the Nile is the longest river in the world.

For both Mary and Tracey, it's a guide northward

to the Mediterranean Sea.

MUEZZIN CALLS

Another early start.

And the Nile leads Tracey into the desert.

She's flying to Dongola in the north of Sudan,

in the heart of the Nubian Desert.

It's like flying into infinity.

You just never want to land, you just want to fly on.

Even in a land of ancient wonders,

her old plane is still something of a curiosity.

Howdy.

-How are you, very nice to meet you.

-Fine, welcome, you are welcome here.

Alhamdulillah, welcome to you all here.

Well, this is marvellous, thank you. What a lovely runway. HE LAUGHS

I don't know what this place is but it's somewhere north of Dongola

but, erm, it's amazing. I don't think it's changed much.

There's a few electricity pylons and a few cell towers

but by and large it's just desert.

And just pierced by these minarets, their mosques.

This is rather lovely, we're in the desert now and there's no moon,

so there's the most amazing starscape above us.

And we're just eating a lot of beans and bread...

here in the sand.

You can't see stars like this anywhere.

Falling stars and, you know... So lots of wishing going on.

I want this to be...

You know, I want it to be a success.

We're off to Egypt. It's a hell of a long way.

Everything in the air shrinks below me.

Ancient Nubians built the first irrigation canals along the Nile

to create a fertile valley in the desert.

In 1970, Nubians helped build the Aswan Dam over the River Nile

to create Lake Nasser.

At 340 miles long, it's one of the largest

man-made lakes in the world, and marks the border with Egypt.

Tracey has flown 30 legs through ten countries now.

But she has an important decision to make about the rest of her journey.

The original plan is to follow Mary Heath's route through Libya

to Tunisia for the shortest sea crossing to Europe.

But Libya remains in the grip of civil war.

Kidnappings and killing are on the rise.

30-plus killed in Benghazi...

..in the last few weeks.

Tracey has to weigh up the risks of sticking to Mary Heath's route.

The only real reason she went all the way along North Africa

to the point of Tunis and then actually flew up to Sicily

is to minimise her crossing over the water.

So she was really keen to keep that to a minimum.

She was terrified of the water.

I am more terrified of Libya, I have to say.

I'd like to go from Egypt direct across the Mediterranean to Crete.

But it does mean I've got a much longer water crossing,

I'm very vulnerable to the wind,

and, of course, it's disappointing in fact that we're not doing Libya.

But it's looking like that is the decision.

The new route means Egypt will be

the last country in Africa she visits.

After a short hop to Luxor, she prepares to fly to Cairo.

At high altitudes this far north, the temperature is almost freezing.

Tracey has to land at a desert airport outside of Cairo,

hours away from an important meeting she has the next day.

Horrific. I can't even feel my feet.

On the ground, traffic is chaos.

HORNS BLARE

It's just the day is beginning to feel endless.

Thank you, thank you.

MUEZZIN CALLS

Welcome to Cairo.

Great(!)

When Mary Heath arrived at Cairo, she was hoping to see Emil

and the car rally, triumphantly finishing their mission.

But forging a road had proved far more difficult than flying

over the continent.

Emil wouldn't make it to Cairo for another month,

by which time Mary would be long gone.

But Tracey has more luck.

Emil's grandson, Marius, lives in Cairo,

and Tracey has arranged to meet him.

-Hi, Tracey.

-Marius.

-Or should I call you Mary?

-Hello.

-You feel like her.

-Welcome to Egypt.

-Lovely to meet you.

-It's lovely to see you.

Oh, so this is his diary?

This is his diary written along the way,

which he always intended to, erm...to turn into a book.

And this is...

-the only photo I have of the two of them together.

-Oh, really?

-She's great, though, isn't she? She's there in her hat.

-Yeah.

So she does cut a very glamorous figure, doesn't she?

She's very smart, yeah, she was.

Both of them were part of this era of beautiful machines

and beautiful people doing...daring things.

It's a very glamorous age, isn't it?

-So did they meet again?

-I'm not...

-Did they only meet in Africa?

-I'm not sure about that.

There was always a certain...

..embarrassment about it -

they were both married at the time that they met and, erm...

and both, I think, escaping from... rather unhappy marriages.

-So they both went on these expeditions to escape?

-I think so.

And they were looking for adventure...and excitement.

And with my grandfather it was fast cars and with her it was flying.

It's funny, I've thought about that, you know, my own life has just been

such a ridiculous soap opera for the last year.

Suddenly, you know, you've got the whole of Africa

and the most beautiful flying machine in the world,

and that was more real to me, in fact, than my...

you know, my emotional life.

You know, I think you're exactly like they were.

It's romance, beauty, to dream something...

..beyond the ordinary.

It is the end of...

..the most extraordinary chapter.

It's the end of a...of a phase, I do recognise that.

The whole purpose of my flight was to give her her place in the sun.

Now she feels like part of me.

Tracey has one more flight before she leaves Africa.

She's heading to Mersa Matruh on the coast,

the closest point in Egypt to Europe.

Europe.

Home.

But storms are gathering in Europe and moving south.

If Tracey's to avoid them, she must fly today.

After 40 days flying over Africa, it's finally time to leave.

Clear prop.

ENGINE BACKFIRES

ENGINE BACKFIRES

It's an ignition problem, I don't know what it is.

But if it means we miss our slot then we are in the shit.

For the first time on her adventure, Tracey's plane has broken down.

With storms on the horizon, it must be fixed quickly.

ENGINE BACKFIRES

We've drawn a complete blank with the Stearman,

nothing's working, it seems to be

getting worse, and we can't seem to really diagnose the problem.

The Egyptians have all gone to sleep, or they've gone to prayers,

so we're now on our own until we resolve the problem.

Could have happened in Libya.

Or it could have happened, actually, over the water

as we're crossing to...to Crete,

so there's some relief that it's here on the ground

but, of course, we wanted to get out of Egypt, desperately.

While the engine's being examined,

one of the worst storms for 200 years hits Egypt.

The only place to keep Tracey's plane safe

is a bunker which is usually used for missiles.

Oh, it's completely unflyable.

There must be 70...

..70, 60, 70 mile per hour winds out here, so...

I've got my sunglasses on like goggles because there's just

so much sand and...

it's just firing missiles at me.

These terrifying winds, you know, this din, this roar all the time.

I just want to just be safe and be still,

but we've got to finish the job.

Oh, they have fixed it.

They've fixed it and he sounds very confident about it.

It's just slightly calmer this morning, well, a lot calmer,

and we're going to try and get across the Med at about lunchtime.

Well...

can't quite believe it.

Caught in the European winter, Tracey's progress home is slow,

and it's not until the turn of the year that Britain comes into view.

After 10,000 miles, Mary Heath arrived safely home.

She was the first person to fly solo from Cape Town back to the UK.

And her adventure would inspire a generation of women aviators.

-CONTROL TOWER:

-Have you visual now, approach at your discretion,

the surface is 250 degrees, 1.1 knots.

One of them, Tracey Curtis-Taylor,

who is just minutes from completing her own African adventure.

Welcome home, ma'am.

It wasn't looking good there for a while.

-Goodwood never looked so good.

-Nice to see you. Well done.

When Mary Heath returned home, she became an international hero.

But a year later, she crashed in an air race and was seriously injured.

By the time she'd recovered,

the public had adopted new heroines

like Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson,

and Mary Heath died at 42, alone, penniless and forgotten.

Until Tracey Curtis-Taylor, a modern-day aviatrix,

decided to bring her back.