Blind microlight pilot Miles Hilton-Barber, 58, has completed his flight from the UK to Australia. He took off from Biggin Hill Airport south of London on 7 March and landed at Sydney's Bankstown Airport on 30 April. The epic 59-day, 13,500 mile journey was made in support of the charity Seeing is Believing which works to prevent blindness in developing countries.

 Miles lost his sight to a hereditary condition about 20 years ago and he hopes to raise $2 million for the charity. In addition to microlighting, Miles has many other notable achievements including climbing Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, running in marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts. He even tried to reach the South Pole, hauling a sledge over 250 miles ice.

 Miles was the first blind pilot to fly the English Channel with co-pilot Storm Smith a couple of years ago, and they currently also hold the British high-altitude record. They took their microlight to 20,300 feet with open-cockpit temperatures of -55 Centigrade, frosting their flight instruments.

 For the flight to Sydney, Miles used a revolutionary speech-output technology to get information from his instruments and navigate the microlight, accompanied by Brian Milton up to Cyprus and then Richard Meredith-Hardy.

  "I may never see again" says Miles, "but if, through this flight, thousands of blind people in developing countries can have this gift of sight restored to them again, it will be so incredibly worth it!
 "The Standard Chartered Bank very graciously offered to support our flight, and I have been humbled to see the commitment and personal involvement that their 28,000 employees around the world have shown towards their Seeing Is Believing charitable project.'

 Miles's microlight, a Mainair Quick GT450, has a 100hp 4-stroke engine, and it cruises at around 70 knots. They made an average of two 4-hour flights each day. Their customised long-range 160-litre fuel tank allowed them to make flights of up to 10 hours endurance where necessary.

 Their route took them over the English Channel, then across France and down Italy before island-hopping across the Mediterranean. Then they went through Syrian airspace into Jordan. From there their route took them over the United Arab Emirates, over the Arabian Sea and over such countries as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Singapore and the island of East Timor before the long sea-crossing to Darwin. Then they went down the Australian East Coast to Sydney and Canberra.

 Although Miles is now a fully-qualified microlight pilot, having undertaken all his aviation exams, he would be the first to readily recognise the limitations imposed by his blindness. "I think there is a big difference between being adventurous and being foolhardy. I need a co-pilot on board on the flights, but we had a lot of fun together flying to Australia, encouraging people along the way to focus on the opportunities in their life, not their limitations. When I first went blind I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me- now I think it is probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me"

 Miles is also indebted to Ian Barlow, his microlight flying instructor from the local Ramair Club near his home in Derbyshire. "Ian has had to put a lot of work and dedication into understanding how different it all is for a blind person not being able to see the horizon around him- he has been a superstar!"

 Miles will be speaking at a number of high-profile corporate events hosted by the bank, through which they hope to reach their target of $1,000,000. If you would like to sponsor Miles, please go to the Seeing Is Believing website . All the money given will be doubled by The Standard Chartered Bank. They will be allocating the funds directly to the different programmes running in the individual countries and will be covering all the overhead expenses. This means that 100% of the money given will go directly to the people who need it most.

THE MICROLIGHT:  Quik GT450
Max speed 95mph (152km/h)
VNE 110mph (177km/h)
Wingspan 925cm
Mtow 450kg
Engine 100hp Rotax 912
 
W: www.mileshilton-barber.com
W: www.seeingisbelieving.org.uk