Global Flyer: Around the World in 80 Flying Days

by Brian Milton

In 1998 Brian Milton and fellow pilot Keith Reynolds, who abandoned the flight, attempted to fly a single-engine micro light around the world in eighty days. Their flight aboard GT Global Flyer retraces as far as possible the route taken by Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's classic story. They flew what is virtually no more than a hang glider with a motorbike slung underneath, the smallest and lightest aircraft ever to attempt such a hazardous journey. Leaving London and passing over Europe, Milton and Reynolds flew to the Middle East and onwards through China, Japan and into Russia. Crossing the Pacific, they reached Alaska and flew through Canada and the USA, before going to Greenland and Iceland, then Scotland and finally back to London. Global Flyer is Brian Milton's account of this incredible journey and of the hazards and dangers which he and Reynolds had to overcome - ranging from engine failure and atrocious weather conditions to being shot at by Syrian fighters. This is a story of flying in the face of adversity, of a constant battle against time and the elements and of overcoming obstacles and challenges that even Phileas Fogg did not have to contend with.

Paperback

First published November 18, 2003