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The
Official Web Site of Brian Milton - One of Britain's Greatest 21st Century
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A Jolly Little Caper – Introduction Added 20 Mar 07 I was phoned by a blind man at 11 o’clock on the evening of Sunday, March 4, asking me to be his sighted pilot on a flexwing microlight flight between London and Sydney. Could I start the following day? 2.40pm, Tuesday, March 6, 2007 It’s been 39 hours since that 11pm phone call last Sunday evening from Miles Hilton-Barber, asking if I would drop everything and fly a microlight to Australia with him..... 8.10pm, March 6, 2007 In a Croydon hotel after a nightmare journey from Biggin Hill, following Jon Cook by car through soul-less streets. Quite bad tempered. 0457 hrs March 7, 2007 Sitting in the Travelodge in Croydon, which is a vision of the future, as planners envisage it. 0530 hrs March 8, 2007 In a cheap hotel in Macon at the top of the Rhone Valley, about 30 miles north of Lyons, where Ross Smith got to on the first flight to Australia on his first day in 1919 0510 hrs March 9, 2007 In a small town called Romans Saint Paul in the Rhone Valley in SE France, having flown 81 miles yesterday in 55 minutes in a weight-shift microlight, touching 117 mph at times. Glad I am to be alive.... 0630 hrs March 10, 2007 Late but then we have problems here in Forli in NE Italy.... 0520 hrs March 11, 2007 Late out of bed because I turned off the main power source by accident... 0426 hrs March 12, 2007 In the Hotel Bretagne in Corfu after a frustrating day, but at last we have got out of the grasp of the Italians.... 0440 hrs March 13, 2007 Alone in the Sofitel Hotel at Athens International Airport, surrounded by luxury, and now with the responsibility of getting the Flyer to Rhodes and Cyprus to link up with RMH.... 0431 hrs March 14, 2007 In the Capsis Sofitel in Rodus, Rhodes, after a landing at the second desperate attempt in high Force Seven cross-winds that could have put an end to the whole venture, and perhaps me. I can still hear the wind howling outside... 0457 hrs March 15, 2007 At the Flamingo Beach Hotel, Larnaca, SE Cyprus - I can hear the sea rolling on to the shore as I write.... Afterthoughts Added 25 Mar 07 It is now 22 days since that phone call from Miles Hilton-Barber, just 20 days since the hurried exit from England, and 11 days since I returned home from Cyprus. I am beginning to wonder about all my rage on the flight. Text messages from Storm Added 10 April 07 Text messages from Storm to Brian shortly after his arrival back in the UK. Storm's Response Added 10 April 07 Storm's response to Brian's account. Published in full, as requested by Storm. Flight Statistics Timetable – the flight of G-SEEE to Cyprus, first leg of the London-Sydney flight |
