Geoff Thomas
Two intrepid adventurers yesterday become the first people to fly from India to the UK - by microlight.
They arrived at Farnborough on Tuesday morning having taken 39 days and 135 flying hours.
Flying a pair of weight-shift Pegasus Quantum 912s powered by 80hp (60kW) Rotax engines, the duo was sponsored by Rolls-Royce India (where one of the pilots, Storm Smith, works as business development manager), Dr Martens footwear and Indian watchmakers Titan.
They left Bangalore on 1 August and flew via Pakistan, Oman, Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel , Cyprus, Greece, Italy and France.
Adventures en route included flying in temperatures of 50íC, so hot that the air temperature gauge melted. Other memorable experiences included being the first microlights ever to overfly Israel; flying through the Indian monsoon; and flying the longest leg over water - between Cyprus and the Greek island of Kos - which was 245nm (430km). As pilot Rory Jeffes says: "God bless Rotax".
COMPETITION
A lucky Flight Daily News reader can win two tickets donated by West Ham sponsors Dr Martens to the West Ham v Liverpool English Premiership football match this coming Saturday, 12 September, at East London's Upton Park Ground.
The winner will be the first person to come to the Flight Daily News office (adjacent to the media centre at Farnborough '98) with the answer to the question: How many miles did the microlight duo travel on their journey from Bangalore to Farnborough? Employees of Reed Business Information and Flight Daily News and their families are ineligible.
Source: Flight Daily News
