Microlight pilot Jon Hilton on round the world flight

Microlight pilot Jon Hilton, who flew his Flight Design CTSW to Canada and back in 2014 in 18 days, has set off on a round-the-world flight in the same aircraft. Jon left from Manchester Barton last Thursday, flew across the Bay of Biscay to France, and at the time of writing (Sunday morning) was over the northern Mediterranean en route for Italy.

Jon’s progress can be followed on a chart here and he is also posting updates on a Facebook page here.

Saturday’s flight was particuarly gruelling. This is what Jon said on Facebook:

“Been a tough day. Rob Weaver was good enough to put me up overnight in Quimper. Didn’t sleep well. Up at 6am. Eat a croissant (I despair). Got to the airport and preflighted her. Left brake caliper & disc locked together. Spent a while trying to fix matters so she wouldn’t taxi in circles. Got covered in dirt, oil & French rain.

“Took off. Skies cleared. Sun came out. Constant 20/30 knot headwind (I have a time window to get to India and wanted to fly). Got thrown about the cabin.

“Always on the radio to some agency or other. The iPad overheated & died. The Garmin isn’t a patch on Sky Demon app so I had to program the Garmin on the go. Really got bounced around in the Gap Tallard/French Alps area. Struggled to climb above 6,000ft.

“The Marseille frequency informed me I wasn’t allowed into Nice. That got stressful. Trying to fly, getting bounced about & speak on the radio in a professional voice was tough. Eddie Gold suggested, by Facebook Messenger, an alternative (he & I previously thought I’d get in to Nice).

“My second alternate was denied because of the word Microlight (not that I’d mentioned it, but I think the blighters had looked up the aircraft rather than accept the Flightplan code of FDCT). I was asked over the radio if I had ‘any special qualifications’. I wanted to shout that being British should be enough, but was polite instead. Headed to a 3rd airfield and struggled to land her…

“7.5 hours of flying and she was as light as a kite. Slightly gusty and it was exciting… Got fuel, met some very friendly French chaps (who bought me a beer) and I’ve made it to a hotel. Bloody shattered.”

Jon is raising money for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and donations can be made here https://www.justgiving.com/Jon-Hilton

All royalties from the book detailing Jon’s original flight to Canada and back also go to charity. The book is available on Amazon: Decision Height by Jon Hilton. The online edition costs £4.79 and all the royalties (approx £1.92) are going to the charity.

“The language in the book is my own and it’s occasionally colourful,” said Jon. “ie, I went through hell.”

Follow Jon’s progress here
Facebook page