A charity-fundraiser plans to set the world record for landing at the most airfields in the UK in a two-month period with the help of the RAF.
During her UK-based journey, aviatrix Vacher hopes to raise money for the charity, Flying Scholarships for the Disabled (FSD), which encourages disabled people, through mental and physical stimulation, to learn to fly a light aircraft.
Vacher will be landing a Piper Dakota at 206 airfields that feature in the official manual of British airfields, 17 of which are military.
She began her flight – entitled 'Wings Around Britain' – earlier this week from Birmingham International and will end her journey on 31 July.
Vacher said that by using Jeppesen Bottlang's Airfield Manual, she hopes to be the first person to land at all those listed as airfields, in just two months.
A Typhoon from the RAF's 11 Squadron, flying as part of a training sortie, was on hand at its home at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to give her fundraising marathon a flying start.
After taking off from Birmingham International she headed via the Isle of Man to Glasgow. Her route will take in a number of RAF stations along the way.
Her final touchdown will be at Tatenhill in the Midlands on Friday 27 July.
Senior staff at each of the airfields will sign their page of a special edition of the airfield manual to be auctioned in a bid to raise further funds.
Airfields on the route have been invited to organise for a disabled person from their local area to fly with her to the next destination.
Vacher said: "Realistically I might be able to visit about six airfields a day, but we have worked out the route and number per day based on distance and other factors. I hope I'll be able to give a disabled person a great experience and maybe encourage them to apply for a scholarship.
"The main gain for them is confidence and self-esteem. Those who pass the board train in America and South Africa where the better weather enables greater continuity over the six-week scholarship period. Being away from home and fending for themselves is in itself confidence building."
Currently there are between 10-14 scholarships awarded each year with more than 200 applicants pitching each year for the coveted places.
Vacher raised more than £400,000 by flying around the world via the North Pole and Antarctica for the Royal International Air Tattoo's Flying Scholarships for the Disabled, which was set up in memory of disabled RAF fighter ace Sir Douglas Bader in 1983, after his death.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
