Disabled pilot to fly 2000 miles around Britain

A disabled pilot has challenged himself to complete a 2,000 mile flight around Britain on Saturday to raise awareness about a not-for-profit organisation that teaches people with disabilities to fly.
Londoner Gautam Lewis, who is reliant on crutches after contracting polio as a three-year-old in India, will depart from the Freedom in the Air (FITA) base at Cranfield Airport on Saturday.
His nine-day Freedom Flight Tour will call at 17 airports in England, Wales and Scotland, starting with a refuelling break at Bembridge Airport on the Isle of Wight, then flying on to Dunkeswell airfield in Devon and stopping overnight at Land's End.
Other destinations on the tour include Cardiff, Swansea, Caernarfon, Liverpool, Blackpool, Carlisle, Islay, Cumbernauld, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Humberside, Norwich and Goodwood, before touching back down at Cranfield on Sunday, July 4.
He will spend up to four hours a day in the cockpit of his Cessna 172 plane, using Union Aviation hand controls developed at Cranfield University, which allow people with lower limb disabilities to pilot an aircraft.
There are three Freedom Wings events in July, two in August and two in September. Young people will learn about being a pilot and have a private 20-minute flight with family members.
24/06/10 Natalie Bowen/Community Newswire

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2010