Search results matching tags 'Around the World Solo Flight' and 'Air Show'

Search and Rescue

Maurice — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:23:00 GMT

Panic, panic my flight to the USA takes off today and I have a lot of packing still to do here in my home in South Wales. I am returning to Florida first and plan to fly down to the Bahamas in a wee 'canvas and tube' aircraft with the hope of finding and rescuing Liberty Girl.

She was last seen at the end of February drifting tail up, like a fisherman's float, north-west from the spot where we ditched her in the ocean some half way between the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands. I hope to scour the beaches of the lower Bahama Islands and call in to the US Base on Great Inagua, and try and track down the helecopter crew who fished me out of the drink, I owe them a beer!

Sun 'n Fun Airshow, Tampa, Florida, is on the 8th April so I hope to get back for that as someone wants me to give a talk. A chance to catch up with old friends from all over the world and do a bit of 'bar flying' with guys still flying aeroplanes who are twenty years older than me.

After that maybe Trinidad via Martinique for the Falklands or the overland route straight for Mexico and Panama possibly. It all depends on a little project we are onto in the woods of central Florida!

London Air show

Maurice — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 05:56:00 GMT

We arrive only to be identified by pilots I have known over so many years, they having travelled from such places as Alderney CI, Northern Ireland to New Zealand leading, of course, to many yarns and tall stories on all matters aviation..

Soon I am chatting to Wing commander Wallis of ‘Little Nellie’ fame, the gyrocopter in the James Bond film, ‘You only live twice’. I had to remind him that it was father that had the first 2 seat gyrocopter in the world, in the early 60’s, designed and built in Newtownards, Northern Ireland by champion motor cyclist, Mr McCandlis. A Royal Navy Lynx helicopter, a Burma Spitfire, a scaled down model of same, from Brisbane, and variously shaped plastic, slippery but slim machines, usually with two stroke engines, all the fashion now in GA, were also scattered about to tempt you. A beautiful ‘Pou de Ciel’ of the 30’s was there, Gen being clearly told never to fly one.

My mission was to get a GPS, charts and find some Insurance. The latter proved as elusive as ever but there are still a few stones yet un turned.

A Captain’s white shirt and epaulettes was next on the shopping list. All I needed now was a hair cut and some lessons in smooth talking, with an air of authority and I was in with a chance. The bureaucratic jungle of Asian Countries, with their notoriously obscure version of logic and the way of doing things, in the minds of the westerner, is a daunting prospect for someone with my particular temperament. At least the Arab and Indian States were behind me! Michael where are you when I need you? I need some of your diplomacy skills for the next sector of this journey.

Well, it was an interesting day and enough for me to forget the Grand National Day as a horse called Nil Desperandum would, no doubt, have lost me a few bob, coming in 6th!

As a staunch Royalist I toast the Royal Couple on their wedding day but still mystified as to how the invitation was lost in the post.

Air Show, Visas, No Insurance! Route?

Maurice — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 05:48:00 GMT

Things to do today:

Find Foreign Office website for visa search for eight countries -
Indonesia, need to visit London
Brunei and Malaysia no visas needed
East Timor need entry permit, get in Darwin
Cambodia arrange on arrival
Laos arrange on arrival
China Vietnam needs a visit to London Embassies
Thailand not needed

Still cannot find a map, chart or Atlas to choose a route, my ‘o’ level education getting a little rusty, or is it a senior moment?

Insurance ….cannot get any anywhere with this and now there’s coffee all over the lap top!!

London Air Show on Friday - might go and find someone there and a sponsor for various pieces of equipment? GPS, charts, headset, handheld, fuel/oil, money?…..name on aircraft!

Now, onto planing a route:

- Darwin to Dili, East Timor
- Dili to Hasannudin
- Hasannudin to Balikpapan
- Balikpapan to Labuan
- Labuan to Ho Chi Minh
- Ho Chi Minh to Phnom
- Penh Phnom to Danang
- Danang to Hanoi
- Hanoi to Macau