Adventure of Flight, a member of the British American Business Council in New York and Washington DC, announces a record setting round the world flight in support of the US & UK charities Flying Scholarships for the Disabled.
Pilot / Adventurer Steve Wood will be flying Spirit of Endeavour around the world, starting and finishing at New York in early August in an attempt to fly the first ever world flight by an auto-engined airplane.
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 15, 2006 -- Adventure of Flight - http://adventureofflight.org - a member of the British American Business Inc in New York, and the British American Business Association in Washington DC announces the launch of pilot Steve Wood's record setting round the world flight in support of the US & UK charities Flying Scholarships for the Disabled http://www.toreachforthesky.org.uk
Queen Noor of Jordan is Patron of the UK charity which was established in memory of the world war II air ace Sir Douglas Bader - Wood’s aim is to raise $1m for the FSD charities in the UK, USA and their sister charity Wheelies with Wings in Australia.
Wood says “Flying Scholarships for the Disabled challenges the disabled to achieve new goals in life through flying, something which many thought impossible until they were offered the challenge”. FSD has provided scholarships for over 200 disabled people in the UK in recent years and has recently established a 501 ( c ) 3 charity in the USA.
The flight will start from New York in early August and finish back in New York in mid-November after circumnavigating the globe as the first ever round the world flight by an auto-engined airplane - Spirit of Endeavour. Wood will also be attempting to set a new FAI round the world flight record. http://www.fai.org
Invitations have been received to display Spirit of Endeavour at 12 major US & UK air shows, including the largest air event in the world - AirVenture at Oshkosh, WI in late July - followed by a premier US airshow, the Vectron Dayton airshow at Dayton, OH, the birthplace of aviation. http://adventureofflight.org/air_shows.htm
Wood commented “the invitations to display Spirit of Endeavour at these major air shows indicates the interest being taken by the organizers of these premier events in my record setting world flight program in support of Flying Scholarships for the Disabled, and it will be great fun being there next to the Blue Angels”.
Long distance flying is nothing new to Wood as in 2005 he became the first British pilot to fly a homebuilt airplane around the four corners of the USA - 10000 miles in 10 days - http://fourcornersflight.com - Spirit of Endeavour already has a place in aviation history as it received its airworthiness certificate on the day of the 100th anniversary of flight - 17 Dec 2003.
Wood explained “the airplane took seven years to build and the challenge to get it completed for the 100th anniversary of flight was daunting enough, but I’m now realising how much of a challenge to fly solo around the world in an airplane you have built yourself really is. Only 10 pilots have flown around the world in a homebuilt airplane and no homebuilt auto-engined aircraft has ever been flown around the world”.
A member of Rotary eClub7980 http://rotaryeclub7890.org and the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians http://www.iffr.org Wood has been invited to make presentations at major Rotary clubs worldwide, including Brisbane Australia, Dubai in the UAE, and Auckland in New Zealand.
Support from major corporations is now coming forward and only recently a Boeing company - Jeppesen - joined the program as a key sponsor. Wood said “having Jeppesen as part of the team is something which is very important to the program. AIG, a BABi member in New York is also a major supporter of Adventure of Flight“.
Wood has been invited to represent the USA at the Northern Ireland airshow on 2 & 3 September http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/show.php?id=669 where he will fly Spirit of Endeavour in a commemorative flypast to honor the fallen of the Battle of the Somme. Wood’s thoughts about this were “to take part in a fly-past of this nature is in itself a great honor and I hope that the many Irish Americans in New York and elsewhere in the USA will wish to share in this honor and support Adventure of Flight”.
The American Consul in Northern Ireland will be amongst the dignitaries to greet Wood and Spirit of Endeavour when they arrive after their record breaking flight direct from Newfoundland - a first for this type of airplane.
A special website - Your Name Around the World http://yournamearoundtheworld.com -has been established to allow individuals and companies to show their support for the world flight by placing their names on the wings of Spirit of Endeavour for a donation starting at just $50.
Wood’s airplane is also special as it has a unique registration N-600FY, which looks just like ‘GOOFY’. “It took courage to choose this registration”, said Wood who was surprised that it was in fact available. “This registration truly complements the cheeky nature and bright yellow color of the airplane” explained Wood who is amazed at the interest taken in the airplane by kids and adults alike. “I just can’t wait to see the expressions on peoples faces when ‘GOOFY’ is seen by the millions of visitors to the air shows I am to display at”, Wood said, with a twinkle in his eye!
Commenting on the growth of the Adventure of Flight program Wood said “it has been a long and hard struggle to get to this stage, first it took 7 years to build the airplane and now another 6 months to fit the special supercharged Subaru auto-engine, but I have a great support team of volunteers working with me including weather experts from the world’s premier aeronautical university, Embry Riddle of Daytona Beach, FL”.
Information for editors:
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http://adventureofflight.org - Adventure of Flight - Wood‘s record setting round the world flight programme
http://yournameinspace.net - Wood’s wing name programme
http://fourcornersflight.com - Wood's Four Corners Flight Around America
http://www.toreachforthesky.org.uk - Flying Scholarships for the Disabled
http://earthrounders.com - Earthrounders - the website for round the world flights
http://www.fai.org - FAI - the aviation world record organisation
Wood’s airplane is a homebuilt GlaStar has been fitted with a 220 hp supercharged Subaru auto-engine specially for the round the world flight - the first ever fitting of this engine in a GlaStar airplane. For the Four Corners Around America flight a traditional 125 hp aero engine was fitted.
Wood is following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, Polly Vacher MBE, http://worldwings.org who flew around the world twice promoted Flying Scholarships for the Disabled. Polly has now stopped flying around the world so Wood is taking over the challenge, but this time in a homebuilt airplane built by the pilot.
Wood aims to be the first British pilot to fly around the world in an aircraft built by the pilot.
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