UPDATE 30 Dec 2018 — Sad news about a crash of one of the Handiflight aircraft with the loss of one of the pilots. See Comments. —DJ Imagine you are flying along in your well-maintained Light-Sport Aircraft with its reliable engine. You are flying a long distance over all sorts of terrain, including vast stretches of water. All is humming along and the miles or kilometers are clicking past. What an experience to fly around the world! Very, very few pilots will ever tackle such a grand challenge. Then, the unexpected happens. Your engine quits. You have a plan. You trained for this and you are experienced. You leap into action. Imagine that you find an acceptable landing area but the location is very remote. That seems rather likely when flying all the way around the planet. Touchdown goes OK. The airplane is undamaged. You are fine. However, you cannot raise anyone on the radio and you are not sure your airborne mayday call was heard.
Does Flying Around the Globe Sound Challenging? How About with a Chair?
Handiflight Goes Global into 2019
Beyond the monumental task of planning such lengthy flight, this and other emergency scenarios were surely contemplated by the pilot team from Handiflight as they prepared for their circumnavigation of the globe in twin CTLS Light-Sport Aircraft. Handiflight's goal is both simple and enormous at once: "A challenging and inspiring global adventure promoting the inclusion of disabled people and values such as commitment, fraternity, and fellowship." Handiflight 2018/2019 hopes to "contribute to changing people’s perceptions of disability and combating prejudices and exclusion" and to "turn dreams into reality, face new challenges, explore new pathways, discover new horizons by flying … across the most amazing and demanding areas of our planet. An additional goal is to "strengthen the global network of disabled aviators all around the world in collaboration with the FAI and local flying clubs." CTLS aircraft with call signs Whisky Yankee Alpha and WY Bravo set off on this expedition just a few days ago. Here is the planned itinerary for their nearly 50,000-mile voyage.- Departure — November 2018
- Australia — February 2019
- New-Zealand — March 2019
- South Pacific — April-May 2019
- South America — June 2019
- North America — July 2019
- Europe — August 2019