UK to Sydney Flexwing flight

[damoski]

If anyone's interested, a UK ultralight pilot is currently flying from Rufforth, UK to Sydney in his modified Quik 912s. Mods include a 135 fuel tank, and attachments for his wheelchair.

 

http://www.soloflightglobal.com/

 

Live GPS track

 

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=06mEvoaRQpSkLGcIAKnq9WsAs8oR5030m

 

Being from the UK, you occasionally hear of UK-to-Sydney trips. I wonder if there been many in the other direction?

 

Damo

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

I've been tracking Dave's progress - its a brave effort & I wish him the best of luck.

 

AFAIK Aus toUK hasn't been done in a trike. It would be quite a bit harder heading west as the winds would tend to be more against you

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Are you perhaps thinking of Martin Bromage ?

 

He was intending to fly from the UK to Aus in Jan last year but came down in the English Channel - http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/P&M%20Aviation%20QuikR,%20G-DALI%2011-2010.pdf

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[damoski]

Western Greece now.. going well. Another long over-water; and he doesn't even have to, to transverse Europe!

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

He'd better get used to flying over water - I was told by another trike pilot that one third of his trip from the UK to Aus was "feet wet".

 

A lot of countries don't have much concept of uncontrolled VFR flight so you get routed via the airways albeit not at flight levels.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[mechfx]

The trip has been done two up a couple of times already in a trike including by a blind guy a couple of years ago.

 

Solo would still be a major achievement though...

 

 

[Tracktop]

Solo, unaccompanied and from what I can see, without a lot of base support and a paraplegic as well.

 

I believe it can take him up to an hr to get in or out of his trike.

 

Balls of steel they say after some of his water crossings.

 

 

[damoski]

Now in Cyprus, after a four-hour overwater flight, with a perfectly good land mass (Turkey) on his left side. Maybe they don't permit microlight, but still... wow!

 

He's now heading towards a choice of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon or Israel. My money's on Israel.

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

The "standard" route is (or used to be) another long water crossing to Egypt, then Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Pakistan. I think flights from Israel to its near neighbours are problematic.

 

He's certainly chose an interesting time to be flying through that region but its always difficult & that parts of the fun/challenge !

 

 

[damoski]

You're right, it's Egypt. And I assume he's forgotten to take the sat-GPS out of his pocket. Either that, or he's currently overflying central Cairo.

 

BTW, recent news interview in Malta; interesting to see the wheelchair wheels mounted on the trike.

 

 

 

[.Evan.]

I look forward to seeing the doco!

 

 

[damoski]

Crossed Saudi and due to leave Oman shortly

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Bookmark this link and get daily updates on his progress.

 

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=06mEvoaRQpSkLGcIAKnq9WsAs8oR5030m

 

 

[damoski]

I do go and check it from time to time - well, most of the time I do it eagerly, but sometimes I get busy and leave it for a while. I suggested on the BMAA forums about Dave having some kind of push updates (RSS, Twitter, etc), but there doesn't seem to be anything.

 

Anyway, he's flying through Mynamar / Burma. 4-5 hours' sleep a night, multiple transponder failures, landing a flexwing in 40kt gusts.. There'd better bloody well be a doco...