December 8, 2001 : The intrepid trio, Flemming, Angela and Ray, continue to enjoy themselves and are already in Thailand.
December 3, 2001 : Three in one! Look out for a program called "Daring Aviators" on Discovery Channel, where three Earthrounders are interviewed: Dick Smith, Tom Claytor (ongoing) and Robert Ragozzino!
December, 2001 : Our warmest wishes to all for the Christmas festive season. Let's hope that the skies in 2002 will have less bombs and more Earthrounders!
November 14, 2001 : Flemming, Angela and Ray are doing well. They are in Jaipur. All is going well.
October 29, 2001 : And they're off! Flemming (Danish) and Angela (British) Pedersen, accompanied by Ray Sherwood (Kiwi), took off from Geneva yesterday in Honey-Mooney HB-DVN (Swiss) for a leisurely 7-month RTW flight, Eastbound. We wish this multinational combination fair winds and a minimum of hassles...
October 22, 2001 : Congratulations to Swiss Earthrounder HG Schmid, who has just been awarded the Paul Tissandier Diploma (for services to aviation and airsports) and the Louis Blériot Medal (for the speed record on his back-to-back circumnavigations by Long Eze in 2000) by the FAI.
October 21st 2001 : Little birds tell us that Flemming and Angela Pedersen still intend to set off from Geneva very shortly on a long-dreamed of 7-month circumnavigation in their Mooney. They are still determined to go, despite recent events. We will be looking out for them...
October 6th, 2001 : Matevz Lenarcic is postponing his RTW in an Ultra light from Slovenia until next year. See : http://www.worldtranssibiria.com
September 29h, 2001 : Congratulations to Gérard Moss for his succesful RTW flight in a Super Ximango. He had left Brazil on June 23th and flew over 55 497 km.
See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
September 18th, 2001 : Gérard Moss is glad to be on the home run, headed towards Cape Verde Islands and the crossing of the South Atlantic to Brazil. Last week he met Earthrounders Jennifer Murray and Polly Vacher in England and bumped into Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill again in Marrakesh, Morocco! See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
September 11th, 2001 : A sad day for humanity. A sad day for aviation. A sad day for freedom. What repercussions can we expect for Earthrounder flights? Flemming and Angela Pedersen who intended to set off in their Mooney from Switzerland in October, for a 7-month cruising circumnavigation, are suddenly in a dilemma whether to go, and which way.
September 6, 2001 : Carsten Sundin had to turn back after taking off from Goose Bay due to electrical problems. He will try again next year. See : http://www.lancair.com/trip.htm
September 8, 2001 : Gérard Moss is in Amboise, France to visit octogenarian René Fournier, designer of the Ximango motorglider. He has completed 75% of his RTW. This week he crossed paths with Earthrounders Bertrand Piccard (balloon), HG Schmid (Long Eze) and Horst Ellenberger (Bonanza). See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
September 2, 2001 : Carsten Sundin has started his solo RTW flight from Redmond, OR and is about to cross the Atlantic.
See : http://www.lancair.com/trip.htm
August 26, 2001 : After struggling through the monsoons, Gérard Moss is now wading through the thick sandy haze of the Middle East and reaches Europe this week.
See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
August 18, 2001 : On opposite ends of the Earth, both Steve Fossett and Gérard Moss ran into bad weather and storms on the same day! Gérard's motor-glider has the advantage of an engine: he turned back to Yangon, Myanmar to wait it out and has now reached India. See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
August 17, 2001 : Adverse weather conditions force Steve Fossett to land in Brazil. See : http://solospirit.wustl.edu/
August 12, 2001 : After starting the week with an aerial visit by two Japanese F15s, Gérard Moss spent 5 days in Japan. He is having a day off in Hong Kong, having landed at Macau, a better bet for light aviation.
See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
August 10, 2001 : Carten Sundin is about to fly around the world in his own Lancair Legacy. Departure in September.
August 2, 2001 : Michel Gordillo is now safely in Salamanca, Spain, after a 23 hour flight from Greenland to Spain!
Congratulations Michel for completing a successful RTW flight!
See : www.sunriseflight.com
August 31, 2001 : Carsten Sundin of Lancair Aircraft will leave on a Solo around-the-world trip on September 2, 2001, from the Lancair Factory in Redmond, OR, in a Lancair Legacy
See : http://www.lancair.com/trip.htm
August 5, 2001 : Steve Fossett's Solo Spirit balloon lifted off into the early morning sky at Northam, Western Australia. Among the supporters were two previous Earthrounders : Dick Smith and Claude Meunier. See : http://solospirit.wustl.edu/
August 4, 2001 : On-going Earthrounder Gérard Moss has completed 10 days in Siberia with navigator Yakov Sabodin (also an Earthrounder!), using mainly car fuel in the Ximango motorglider, and proceeds to Japan on Monday, where he is due a warm welcome by Issei Imahashi, of AOPA-Japan. See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
19th, July: American Denise Waters completed her RTW flight after participating in the London to Sydney Air Race. She started the race with Ruth Maestre and crossed the Pacific with Dee Bond Wakelin. Congratulations. See : http://www.racedr.com/log/
8th, July: One of the Japanese AOPA RTW planes, a PC12 registered in Idaho, suffered engine failure over the chilly Sea of Okhotsk. The crew was rescued by a Russian vessel after drifting for 16 hours.
5th, July: A team of aircraft flown by AOPA pilots from Japan made a fast but fun flight around the world which ended back in Japan on 5th July. Well done, team! Check out their site: http://www18.tok2.com/home/soar/world.htm
July 27, 2001 : After a failed attempt at Kalgoorlie (Western Australia), Steve Fosselt has moved to the Northam Airport and is standing by, waiting for weather conditions to attempt his solo RTW flight in a balloon. Northam is located 100 km east of Perth. It was the departure and finishing point for Claude Meunier's solo RTW flight in 1996. See : http://solospirit.wustl.edu/
July 27; 2001 : On-going Earthrounders Gérard Moss has crossed the Bering Strait and is now in Siberia. See : http://www.wingsofwind.com
17th, July: On-going Earthrounders Gérard Moss and Michel Gordillo crossed paths in Seattle - something they tried to orchestrate but that happened by pure luck - and enjoyed a great dinner together with plenty of stories to swap before continuing on their respective routes in opposite directions: Gérard to Siberia, Michel to Oshkosh. Swiss Earthrounder HG Schmid spoke to them both on the phone. See : http://www.wingsofwind.com and http://www.sunriseflight.com
12th, July: Gérard Moss is in Seattle to do the 100-service on the Rotax engine before proceeding towards Siberia.
June 18, 2001.: A team of RTW aircraft from AOPA-Japan has just arrived in Europe, flying eastbound. They will be the first Japanese Earthrounders since the flight of a Mitsubishi GSM2 way back in the pioneer days of 1939! Pity they have just missed the Vienna meeting. See : http://www18.tok2.com/home/soar/world.htm
June 23, 2001.: This is the departure date for two upcoming circumnavigations. Michel Gordillo will take off from Spain in his MCR01 kitplane ( www.sunriseflight.com ) and Gérard Moss from Brazil in a Super Ximango motor-glider ( www.wingsofwind.com ). They hope to cross paths in Seattle.
June 16-20, 2001.: Steve Fosselt is standing by waiting for perfect weather conditions to attempt a solo RTW flight in a balloon. Take off will be from Kalgoorlie, Australia. See : http://solospirit.wustl.edu/
June 12, 2001.: Earthrounder Brian Milton is having trouble in Canada. The authorities are refusing to allow him to depart in a non-IFR equipped ultralight to fly across the North Atlantic from Newfoundland and Ireland.
June 10, 2001.: The Earthrounders 4-day meeting in Vienna drew to a close over a dinner overlooking the city and plans for the nexr reunion to be held in Australia in two years' time.
May 25, 2001.: News of two upcoming circumnavigations that, independently, have decided on the same departure date! Michel Gordillo, Iberia captain, will be eastbound out of Madrid in a MCR01 kitplane and Gérard Moss, PPL, will be westbound out of Sorocaba, Brasil in a Super Ximango motor-glider. See websites : www.sunriseflight.com and www.asasdovento.com.br( in Portuguese )
www.wingsofwind.com( in English )
May 17th, 2001.: Polly Vacher has completed her solo flight around the world and made it home to a grand reception! See : http://www.worldwings.org On the same day, David Hare completed his circumnavigation as a continuation of the London-Sydney race. He flew the route with different copilots and sometimes alone. Check out his amusing site! http://www.harelines.com
May 6th, 2001.: 6th May 2001: Polly is about to make her last few stops in the USA before heading back across the Pond to UK. She hopes to complete her circumnavigation on 17th May. See http://www.worldwings.org
April 22, 2001.: Polly Vacher is getting closer to home. She has bounced across the Rockies and is progressing East across the USA. www.worldwings.org
http://www.worldwings.org
April 7-11, 2001.: Having left Australia, Polly Vacher is now holed up on the Pacific island of New Caledonia, waiting for a hurricane to pass by! http://www.worldwings.org
March 20 , 2001: Earthrounder Jennifer Murray, in her Robinson 44, is doing very well in the London to Sydney air race. She finished in third place. Congratulations. http://www.airrace.com.au
March 11-April 7 , 2001: Several Earthrounders (Dawn & Gordon Bartsch, Willie Tashima, Margaret Ringenberg, Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill) are competing in the London to Sydney air race. Good luck, you know the way! : http://www.airrace.com.au
March 31 , 2001: Polly Vacher will leave Australia this week to cross the Pacific. In Sydney, she met up with Earthrounders Dick & Pip Smith. In Canberra, she spoke at the 2nd Asia Pacific Women in Aviation Conference, and met up with Earthrounder Claude Meunier, who flew over from Perth. http://www.worldwings.org
March 8 , 2001: Having met up with ongoing Earthrounder Tom Claytor in Bangkok, Polly Vacher has reached Australia. www.worldwings.org
March 7 , 2001: Would-be Earthrounders Gwen Bloomingdale and Barbara Gard tragically, and so far unexplainedly, crashed in Icelandic waters, in their Aero Commander when headed for London to participate in the Air race to Sydney. They had intended to carry on around the world after the race. http://www.gwenandbarbflyroundtheworld.com
March 4 , 2001: Americans Ruth Maestre and Denise Waters leave the US to fly to Europe to compete in the London to Sydney air race and hope to close the full circle after that. http://www.racedr.com
February , 2001: The FAI has ratified 164 world records for "Speed over recognized courses" set by HG Schmid on his two-way Long-Ez flight in 2000 : http://www.millenniumflight.com In circumnavigations terms, he took the "Speed around the world, eastbound" at an average of 69.87 km/h (former record held by Jon Johanson, Australia) and "Speed around the world, westbound" with an average of 69.99 km/h (also formerly held by Jon Johanson).
March 5 , 2001: Having met up with ongoing Earthrounder Tom Claytor in Bangkok, Polly Vacher has reached Madan in Indonesia. Heading strongly for Australia. www.worldwings.org
February 10, 2001: Polly Vacher (UK) has reached Bombay. Follow her across the Middle East... www.worldwings.org
January, 2001: The NAA recently approved a peak altitude record of 63,245 feet attained by high-flying Earthrounder Mike Melvill with Bob Waldmiller in the Proteus high-altitude research aircraft in October 2000.
See: www.scaled.com
January 2001 : German Earthrounders Horst Ellenberger, Yürgen Timm and Peter Wölfel are presently touring South America together - but each in their own Bonanzas. Just for fun.
January 2001 : Citation Earthrounder and speed record breaker Steve Fossett (USA) is currently competing in the latest round-the-world sailing competition, The Race ( www.therace.org ) in the catamaran PlayStation. Good luck, Steve...Steve has subsequently retired from The Race, but check out his site anyway.