Dick, great message :ok: one that should be pinned up in every primary school, better still, every maternity ward!

Good luck Ryan, thoughts are with you :ok:

Good luck!

RE IFR or VFR ?
 

After reading Ryan's blog, it would appear he is IFR rated. As one would want to be attempting such a flight.

Good luck Ryan! Enjoy the experience.

He is.


plus some more characters....

Interesting how in Flightaware his plan was in to Pago Pago last night, but now it has vanished.

I see the data stream to his website shows he is 2/3 the way so arrival around 3.30pm or there a bouts.

Anyone have any better tracking links?

At first I had a chuckly to myself when I read this but then I thought of Amelia Earhart and the countless numbers of VFR aircraft that have traversed the globe safely over the years.

Am I the only one thinking that zooming along in an SR22 with auto-pilot at 170 knots+ tas wouldn't be too taxing?

XXX – That would be the most myopic post I have seen on this site.
Think – 19 years old; the 21st century bureaucracies; IFR through dozens of countries with all their vagaries; paying for it himself etc. etc.
I think his workload would be far more onerous than the risk taking pioneers.
What he is doing is proving that there are still young people game enough to test and prove themselves at a level very few would even contemplate.
I congratulate him just for having a go. If he achieves his goal he should be considered for recognition as “young Australian of the Year”

yep you sure are

XXX, yeah mate, Why didn't you do it if it is so easy ? :ok:

Good luck to him.

Having been a contributor to Ryan's progress so far, I can assure everyone this has not been a half baked exercise, nor has it been handed to him on a platter.

From all the planning business and logistics (his mum is a significant help ;) )he has done an outstanding job.

My observation of how he spent 3 days in an engine class....being the most attentive student, like his life might depend on it, was something to behold and watch. And then to spend a long time after with John Deakin and in particular Walter Atkinson, who knows the the Cirrus / Klampier folk closely and how they were designed and operated, was a level of maturity beyond his years.

I need to repeat that, he showed a level of discipline and maturity beyond his years.

Heck.....beyond mine, and probably most reading this board!

This is not another Ray Clamback professional ferry flight, and every one of those is impressive in its own right.

I would say that DBTW and MakeItHappenCapt would agree. This is a serious task and at 19 none the less.

I am just humbled by the level of involvement I have had with such an inspiring young man.

I've had a dozen emails and PM's suggesting that they agreed with me!

That being said, it was a little out of context. I was moreso thinking that the workload would be significantly less than doing it in a VFR TigerMoth or similar.

Not to detract from Ryan's much admired effort, but I could not resist the invitation from XXX,

You mean this one Mr XXX..??

Solo to England (In a Tiger Moth) - ABC WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Although Barry did have some sponsorship, it still cost him heaps......
Its all in the book....

Cheers:ok:

I'm just saying the flying part should be the easy bit with an aircraft like that. He will only need to focus on the corrupt police forces, politics, cyclones and lack of fuel... Easy ! :-)

Only 172 hours :sad:

Should be able to snag himself a good job once he gets back from the trip :ok:

Good luck Ryan!

I could be completely wrong, but was he originally going to use a Cessna 182? I can vaguely remember seeing a photo with him next to a high wing. Of course senility could be creeping up on me...

He was in search of an aeroplane and during the early part he was using a 182....but as we all know they are a great machine, however a machine of the SR22/A36 etc kind of performance is more suitable.

The 182 I think was just something to get the story started, or was handy at the time.

Didn't take the tall poppy syndrome to come out.

Here we have a kid who, when most of his peers are getting pissed every other night on a backpacking tour of Europe, is getting out there and doing something pretty cool.

I'm not aware that he has made it out to be a huge risk, unprecedented or that he is a pioneer in any way - besides his age.

Why wouldn't we support him, even if the aircraft is IFR capable, autopilot and 170kts? So what? What would you say if he had no GPS, autopilot etc? You'd be bleating about how irresponsible he was.

That the spirit of adventure is alive in this is fantastic. And nice to have Dick's support too. Many years ago I was the recipient of a few grand from one of Dick's former companies to pursue an adventurous (non aviation) dream. It is certainly a good driver to have such support.

There should be more of this adventure. Good luck Ryan, and a circumnavigation is a great achievement at any age, let alone yours.

Here here Stallie. Well said.

morno