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After Tim Tarris (JN90MB) had to give up his RTW to commemorate the Anniversary of the first RTW in 1924, two other pilots Bob Bates and Barry Payne, (a total of 161 springs), will depart Mont Haggen in PNG on June 1st in Barry's Comanche ZK-BAZ.

https://centennialflight.weebly.com/


From Bob Bates:
This year marks the centenary of the first flight round the.world.
https://www.firstworldflightcentennial.org/
Four Douglas Air Cruisers operated by the US Army Air Service, departed Seattle on April 6, 1924. They flew a westwards route that took them north to Alaska, along the Aleutian Islands to Russian Kamchatka and onto Japan. https://www.seattleworldcruiser.org/1924-world-flight-chronicle Three of the aircraft reached Kagoshima on 2nd June and from there they flew across China and India arriving in Brough, Yorkshire (near Hull in the UK), on 17th July. During the following two weeks, essential maintenance was performed and pontoons refitted in preparation for a continuation of the flight over the North Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland and onto the USA. One of the four planes crashed in Alaska, but the crew was rescued. A second aircraft ditched in the North Atlantic and the crew was picked up by the U.S. Navy. The two remaining flight crews returned to a huge welcoming crowd in Seattle on September 28, 1924 after completing the epic 175 day, 26,345 mile journey and becoming the First to Fly Around the World.
So what is the significance of this..? Well, 2019 round the world flyer Barry Payne
http://www.bazflyer.com

will leave New Zealand later in May flying his trusty Piper Comanche ZK-BAZ, to Mount Hagen in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Here he will be joined by good friend Bob Bates
http://www.pngtours.com/tours/Bobsflights.htm

Together they will fly a westwards World Flight closely reenacting the original 1924 flight route.
Step one will have Barry and Bob flying north of the Equator to arrive in Kagoshima, Japan, at the same time the original flyers were there 100 years previous. They will then traverse Russia meeting many aviators across the land and carry onto the UK landing at Breighton Airfield which is close to Brough. They will leave the UK late August, retracing the original flyer's air path over the North Atlantic, across the USA all the way back to Seattle. After Seattle, Barry and Bob pickup the original 1924 route through Alaska, down the Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka and complete a full circle at Kagoshima. They are scheduled to arrive back in Mount Hagen on 28th September, the same day the two Douglas Air Cruise meeting many aviators across the land and carry onto the UK landing at Breighton Airfield which is close to Brough. They will leave the UK late August, retracing the original flyer's landed back at Seattle in 1924 and completing the First Flight Round the World. Barry and Bob proudly represent the South Canterbury Aero Club, Timaru Airport, New Zealand. Also for the record book, the two flyers have a combined age of 161 years, and 105 years pilot experience.

Wishing them fair weather and blue skies all along.

They can be followed:
on :Garmin Tracker
and on: Fight Aware

Larger picture of ZK-BAZ.




First World Flight Centennial celebration:
There is planned to be a 'First World Flight Centennial' celebration held in Seattle September 26-29, 2024.
Several Earthrounders will be participating in the Centennial and no doubt others may take the opportunity to be there too.
It might make it a good place for an informal Earthrounders mini-reunion.
There is yet to be a single point of contact but if you are going to attend the Centennial it might be best to use the Whatsapp group to indicate your intentions.
It might be possible then to arrange an email list so a get-together can be organized during the Centennial, stay tuned for more info.

\ From Max M:
Hey Cirrus RTW Pilots,

I'm gearing up for a RTW flight in the next few years, and I'm on the hunt for a Cirrus that's already equipped with ferry tanks.
Having a pre-installed and tested ferry tank system would be a huge advantage for this journey. Anyone out there looking to sell a Cirrus with ferry tanks? Or maybe you know someone who's recently completed an RTW trip in a Cirrus and might be ready to part ways with their trusty aircraft?
Let me know if you have any leads or are the seller yourselves!
melcher.maxwell (at) gmail.com

Sincere congratulations to Bart Gray and his crew, including John Bone, for the successful completion of their RTW in a LearJet 36A, establishing a speed record of 550 km/h in the class C1-f.

Larger picture

Mak Aviation Services announce changes in their Site and email addresses.
Details are here.

April 12, 2024 Due to the increased invasion of ridiculous and annoying spam emails addressed to the Webmaster as "webmaster@earthrounders.com", starting on April 15, 2024, all emails addressed to that address will be not be received and wil not be read. To contact the Webmaster, please use this Form, Thank you. April 14, 2024 From John Bone (RTW 2017,2021): . I will be part of the Century Mission, a 4 man crew attempting a westbound around the world speed record in a Learjet 36A. The flight will depart April 4th from Wichita, Kansas. The date coincides with the 100th anniversary of the first around the world flight by the US Army Corp of Engineers. Wishing them fair weather all along and plenty of tail winds... https://www.centurymission.org/a> March 18, 2024 Sincere congratulations to Bo Zhang for the successful completion of his third RTW in his DA62, N62ZB Larger picture. January 26, 2024 "There will be celebrations in September in Seattle to commemorate the 100 year Anniversary of the very first flight around the world by 4 Douglas World Cruisers (only 2 made it to the end)." https://www.firstworldflightcentennial.org/ In the mean time, Timothy Tarris is preparing his RTW to honor the 100th Anniversary of the first Around The World Flight by the US Army Air Service in 1924. He plans to leave on January 28, 2024 and to return on February 29, 2024. He will fly his Cessna T-210, tail number N90MB. shing them fair weather and tail wimds... Larger picture of the Chicago . <---