TWIN LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT COMPLETE WORLD FLIGHT

22 Jun 2010

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The Flight Design CT pair return home to Switzerland

TWO pilots of twin Flight Design CTs are back home in Sion, Switzerland after flying around the world in formation.

The company which backed the flight, Flight Design of Germany, said, "One around-the-world flight is significant. A pair of Light-Sport Aircraft doing the feat is even more impressive."

Yannick Bovier, 37, and Francisco Agullo, 41, departed their home base in Switzeralnd on the last day of April, heading south and crossing the Atlantic to Brazil by 8 May, and then crossed the Caribbean to Miami, Florida, USA by 13 May.

After crossing the States, Bovier and Agullo made two very long flights to cross the Pacific on 3 June. The pair wrote, "[We flew over] 15,877 kilometers (about 10,000 miles) of water... in 76 hours." The arduous passage across the planet's largest ocean brought several interesting experiences, including landing on an atoll on the Pacific Marshall Island of Majuro.

The ocean crossings were noteworthy but obtaining permission to overfly some middle eastern countries brought difficulties of another sort. Fortunately Bovier and Agullo are airline pilots and had familiarity in dealing with aviation authorities in many countries. They also were supported by teams at home that helped with permits and logistical efforts, as well as weather reports.

"The story of these two pilots as reported in their log is a fascinating read," reported Flight Design USA president Tom Peghiny. The Swiss team calls their adventure Azimut 270 and they kept their many followers updated with an online "logbook" that most pilots will enjoy reading.

The twin CT aircraft were modified to carry 120 gallons of fuel for their 17-hour flight legs over water A factory-stock CTLS carries 35 US gallons of mogas or 100LL giving it a range of more than 800 nautical miles.


Trip website
www.azimut270.ch

Flight Design
www.flightdesignusa.com

 

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