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Sydney, Australia – May 4, 2007 – It’s quite an achievement to fly a microlight 13,500 miles. But it’s nearly a miracle when the pilot who does it is blind.
After departing London on March 7, Miles Hilton-Barber landed his plane in Sydney, Australia on Monday, ending his 59-day journey under the supervision of his sighted co-pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy.
Throughout his nearly 2 months of traveling, Hilton-Barber braved snowstorms, freezing temperatures and downpours as he flew over mountains, deserts, seas and forests in 21 countries with the aid of an audio device that read out navigational information.
The 5-inch by 3-inch switch box, attached to the leg of his flying suit and connected to his dedicated flight instruments, allowed Hilton-Barber to access up to 32 different types of flight information at any time, including his air speed, ground speed, compass bearing, aircraft heading, and more. But just as importantly, it enabled Hilton-Barber to fly and navigate independently from Meredith-Hardy, who sat behind him and fulfilled the Civil Aviations requirements as a qualified flight instructor and back-up pilot in an emergency.
"It's the fulfillment of an amazing dream,” he told the Herald-Sun in Australia. “I've been wanting to do this flight for about four years. I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. Now I'm totally blind and I've had the privilege of flying more than halfway around the world.”
Hilton-Barber lost his eyesight about 25 years ago because of a heredity condition.
“The big deal is not me doing this, it's raising funds," he said. He hopes his flight will raise $1 million for Seeing is Believing, a group that works for the prevention of blindness in developing countries. Click here to donate.
But this flight wasn’t the first challenge that Hilton-Barber has overcome. A motivational speaker, he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, run marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and even attempted to walk to the South Pole. He also was the first blind pilot to fly the English Channel with a sighted co-pilot, Storm Smith; in addition, he and Smith also hold the British high-altitude record, taking their microlight, which is known as a microlight in the UK, to 20,300 feet with open-cockpit temperatures of –55 Centigrade.
Originally, Smith was going to make the trip was Hilton-Barber, but had to cancel at the last moment due to personal circumstances.
While Hilton-Barber is fully qualified as an microlight pilot and has taken all the appropriate aviation exams, he also recognizes the limitations imposed by his blindness.
"I think there is a big difference between being adventurous and being foolhardy," he said on his web site before the flight. "I need Storm on board on the flights, but we plan to have a lot of fun together flying to Australia, encouraging people along the way to focus on the opportunities in their life, not their limitations. When I first went blind I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me -- now I think it is probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me."
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Blind microlight pilot Miles Hilton Barbour of Great Britain reacts after landing at Sydney's Bankstown Airport after completing his flight from England to Australia, Monday April 30, 2007. Miles, 58, who has been blind for 25 years, and his co-pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy left London on March 7 on their 13,200 miles journey to Australia. Mark Baker -- AP Photo.
Barbour and Meredith-Hardy touchdown in Australia at the completion of their 13,500-mile flight. Their airplane is a Mainair Quik GT 450 trike. The microlight is powered by a 100 HP 4-stroke engine and a customized long-range fuel tank.
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