Flying a microlight from Biggin Hill to Australia while blind
Fifty-eight-year old Miles Hilton-Barber “is on the last leg of an epic seven-week, 13,000-mile adventure”. Starting off from Biggin Hill airfield on March 7, “He has endured violent turbulence, freezing temperatures and fierce headwinds in a tiny aircraft exposed to the elements” while crossing 19 countries in a microlight.
Hilton-Barber is blind. He flies “with the aid of speech-controlled navigational equipment developed by a British company which reads altitude, speed and headings to him and helps him steer his course. He responds by typing flight coordinates into a keyboard strapped to his leg. . ." A co-pilot - microlight champion Richard Meredith-Hardy - is with him in case of emergencies.
Hilton-Barber is due to finish his record-breaking journey which is raising money to prevent blindness, in Sydney on Monday. The Guardian has the beautiful and nerve-wracking details.
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