13 November 2018
The first part of the RAF 100 Great Britain to New Zealand flight has been achieved.
Squadron Leader Chris Pote and a team of co-pilots have reached Perth, Western Australia after flying 13,500 miles in 17 days… in a two-seat EuroFox light aircraft.
Chris is now back in the UK but will return to Perth on 25 November for the second part of the flight to New Zealnd.
“The aircraft is safely hangared near Perth and the crew back in the UK, waiting for part two of the expedition to start on 25 November,” said Chris.
“We flew 13,500 miles, in 125 flying hours, 15 flights in 17 days. We were unsupported enroute and with no UK operations team it meant very long days, flying, planning, refuelling and maintaining.”
Refuelling on Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean. Top photo: Chris Pote, left, co-pilot Emma Landy and CPL students at Chittagong, Bangladesh
It’s by no means been an easy flight so far. The aircraft arrived at Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, after 12 hours flying, “having fought through three walls of thunderstorms between Singapore and the southern Indonesian coast”.
The EuroFox has been modified to hold 154 litres of fuel, giving it a range of 1,350nm and endurance of sixteen hours.
You can follow the team’s progress on the aircraft tracker here, and on Facebook. Donations to the charities supported by the flight can be made here. FLYER’s previous story on the flight here.
