19 August 2014
Scottish Aero Club members have welcomed their former Chairman, Canadian businessman Dave McElroy, at the end of his ‘two-for-one’ round the world flight in a single engine Piper Comanche.
Club members had been following Dave’s progress over 80 days via his RTW80 website, which broadcast his position by means of a DeLorme InReach satellite tracker. The 33,000 nautical miles adventure involved two start/finish venues, visits to 29 countries and 54 airports and was completed in 260 hours flying time at an average groundspeed of 129kt.
Dave, aged 66, began planning for the flight two years ago with fellow Canadian Chris Elgar in their jointly-owned 43-year-old Piper Comanche 250, with the aim of raising a total of $500,000, for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and the Toronto Sick Kids’ Hospital in Canada. As a result, the epic flight had a start/finish at both Toronto and Perth airports.
“It had always been an ambition of mine to make a round-the-world flight and the formation of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and a link between my two grandchildren and the Toronto Sick Kids’ Hospital was the impetus to actually undertake it,” said Dave. He added, “I received friendship and help in almost every country and I experienced some truly magnificent sights and scenery. I had long had the ambition to fly around the world and this exceeded my expectations.
“It is difficult to select highlights of the journey because there were so many memorable occasions but it was a privilege to be able to make a presentation to the Comanche Owners association during Air Venture at Oshkosh.”
