“I Must Fly,” Says Sheila Scott

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31993, 21 May 1969, Page 2

“I Must Fly,” Says Sheila Scott

Restless and bored with life, dabbling in acting, dress designing, modelling and Buddhism, Sheila Scott wondered what she would do with her life. One Sunday morning she read a magazine article on learning to fly. This was it. From her first trial lesson at a small British aerodrome, she found a purpose for liv-

ing and a fount of courage and determination no-one guessed she had. And so began a career which made her the first British pilot (man or woman) to fly solo round the world and the holder of more than 60 records. Britain’s second Amy Johnson became “seduced” by the sensation of floating through space. Flying became the “love affair” of Sheila Scott’s life, packed with the emotional extremes of exhilaration and adject depression, often a bitter fight to hold on to what she had found, through lack of funds. “Never Alone” In her book, “I Must Fly,” published recently by Hodder and Stoughton, Sheila Scott sums up nine years of flying thus: “I fly because I love it and find great beauty in the sky. “Here I am never alone, perhaps occasionally frightened when I push it further than I should, but more often contentedly happy. I find a sense of accomplishment as a result of flying, more than from anything else I have ever done.” Sheila Scott does not dwell on the frights she had on her record, round-the-world flight in 1966, as her Piper Comanche 260 tossed helplessly in tropical storms and her radio equipment continually failed. It is her tenacity of purpose in flying the 31,000-mile route in 33 days and her skill that predominate the crisplytold story. She was determined to break records for Britain, her sturdy little aircraft and herself. Come monsoons or dysentery, she did it. • V . Only once does she speak of real fear. Flying alone

across the Pacific to San Francisco, she suddenly smelt petrol. Almost overpowered by fumes, her throat aching, she realised something must have burst. Fuel was pouring in from a cabin tank and she knew the aircraft was a “flying bomb.” “Flying Bomb” “I was momentarily so scared I literally felt the stabbing pain of fear before I jumped to it (the tank) to try to do something to trace the leak,” she says in her book. After about two hours the leak dried up and Sheila Scott completed the longest hop of the flight, more fatigued than she realised until she stumbled out of the plane. The pilot’s deep affection for the aircraft, “Myth Too,” is understandable. It carried her over thousands of miles of ocean, jungle and desert, through foul weather and fair. She pushed the plane far beyond what it was built for, yet it took her home safely every time and helped to make many friends for Miss Scott and Britain round the world. The Woman Throughout the book Sheila Scott, the woman, comes out in her love of fun, parties, people and Weir adulation. “Sheila is a charming and beautiful woman, and I must confess that along with many other men I love her very dearly,” says Sir Alan Cobham in a foreword. Sheila Scott and “Myth Too” have not yet finished their adventures. Since the book was published the team has been awarded the prize for the fastest time by a woman in a light aircraft in the recent “Daily Mail” Transatlantic Air Race. “I Must Fly” is well illustrated with about 50 photographs of Miss Scott, “Myth Too” and her earlier aircraft in races and on record flights. The book of 222 pages includes route maps and the pilot’s main flight records. The photograph shows Miss Scott talking to the Duke of Edinburgh at a reception in London after receiving her award in the Transatlantic Air Race.