A teenage pilot is due to land at Donegal Airport today en route to breaking the record for the youngest person to fly solo round the globe in a single-engine aircraft.
Travis Ludlow (18), from Buckinghamshire, England, departed Teuge in The Netherlands on May 29th, heading east across Europe via Poland, before flying through Russia, Alaska and Canada.
He was due to arrive in Donegal yesterday, however due to stormy weather in New York, he is expected to land here this afternoon or early evening.
Donegal Airport captured by Top Drone photography. Pic www.topdrone.ie
Yesterday, Travis made the eight-hour crossing from Greenland to Iceland from where he will fly to the north west of Ireland this morning.
“Good job I was well rested after New York. Yesterday was a marathon leg. Nearly 1,200 miles in 11 hours of flying, with stops in Montreal and Saguenay,” he posted on his Facebook page yesterday.
Travis on his approach to New York.
His remaining hops will take him from Iceland to Ireland (a stop in Donegal), Portugal, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain, UK, France and Belgium – landing back in the Netherlands on July 7th.
The teenage pilot is making the trip in a Cessna 172R, regarded as the safest single engine aircraft ever built, upgraded with the latest avionics and aerodynamic fairings.
Graphic shows the flight path of Travis Ludlow on his journey around the world.
