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Blind Pilot Completes Incredible 54-Day Journey From England To Australia
Monday April 30, 2007
His journey is incredible by even the most liberal of standards.
He flew from London, England to Sydney, Australia, braving wind storms, snow, torrential downpours and subzero temperatures.
It took him 54 days.
He used an open micro-light aircraft.
And he did it all without the benefit of sight.
Miles Hilton-Barber is a 58-year-old father of three who lost his sight to a hereditary condition 20 years ago.
He refused to let his impediment stand in his way, and despite the odds and how illogical it might seem, the adventurer set his lack of sight on one goal - being able to fly.
"I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid," he explains. "Now I'm totally blind and I've had the privilege of flying more than halfway around the world."
Hilton-Barber took off from an air base in London on March 7.
His vehicle looks like the equivalent of a tricycle and motorized hang glider that has none of the comforts you'd expect to see in a plane. He used a computerized navigational program to guide him through the sometimes harrowing journey.
"The only thing holding me back was five inches, the distance between my ears," he laughs. "Attitude is what determines altitude."
While he was accompanied by a sighted co-pilot in case of emergency, the flyer in essence was at the controls almost the entire time.
On Monday, he landed in Sydney to a hero's welcome, but not before completing one last 'victory lap' over the city's famed Opera House.
"It's a very physical way to fly, very primitive. I can smell what's growing in the fields below. As we fly into places like Karachi, I can smell what's been cooked in the factories," he outlines.
"Sometimes, being blind is an advantage. We've flown through tropical storms so heavy that I thought Richard (his co-pilot) was flying through a waterfall."
And while Hilton-Barber was out 'seeing' the world from a very unique vantage point, he was helping others like himself. The trip raised Cdn.$2 million to aid in the fight against blindness.
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_10456.aspx
Monday April 30, 2007
His journey is incredible by even the most liberal of standards.
He flew from London, England to Sydney, Australia, braving wind storms, snow, torrential downpours and subzero temperatures.
It took him 54 days.
He used an open micro-light aircraft.
And he did it all without the benefit of sight.
Miles Hilton-Barber is a 58-year-old father of three who lost his sight to a hereditary condition 20 years ago.
He refused to let his impediment stand in his way, and despite the odds and how illogical it might seem, the adventurer set his lack of sight on one goal - being able to fly.
"I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid," he explains. "Now I'm totally blind and I've had the privilege of flying more than halfway around the world."
Hilton-Barber took off from an air base in London on March 7.
His vehicle looks like the equivalent of a tricycle and motorized hang glider that has none of the comforts you'd expect to see in a plane. He used a computerized navigational program to guide him through the sometimes harrowing journey.
"The only thing holding me back was five inches, the distance between my ears," he laughs. "Attitude is what determines altitude."
While he was accompanied by a sighted co-pilot in case of emergency, the flyer in essence was at the controls almost the entire time.
On Monday, he landed in Sydney to a hero's welcome, but not before completing one last 'victory lap' over the city's famed Opera House.
"It's a very physical way to fly, very primitive. I can smell what's growing in the fields below. As we fly into places like Karachi, I can smell what's been cooked in the factories," he outlines.
"Sometimes, being blind is an advantage. We've flown through tropical storms so heavy that I thought Richard (his co-pilot) was flying through a waterfall."
And while Hilton-Barber was out 'seeing' the world from a very unique vantage point, he was helping others like himself. The trip raised Cdn.$2 million to aid in the fight against blindness.
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_10456.aspx
