Exactly. :) If you have the time and the money to do it, go for it.

Seconded...

Well I am new to aviation but if it were me, I would be very concerned about a couple of things. First off, with no instrument rating, the weather would have to be perfect over a tremendous distance. The chances of having a block of weather good enough over that far a distance are almost impossibly small. I am no meteoroligist, but that just seems very unlikely.

Also, I'm sure you have thought of this but if you were to overfly the middle east the chances of being shot down are very high. A lot of people don't realize that the Middle East is kinda like the wild west. In the USA for example, the military would have to be given permission directly from the Commander-In-Chief to shoot down a general aviation aircraft. However, in the Middle East, a SAM battery or tripple-A emplacement might open-up on you for the sheer fun of it, with no risk of accountability or repercussions. In some countries, private citizens have their own shoulder-fires SAM's that they found on the battlefield (!). I know this sounds completely nuts, but this is the Middle East we're talking about. There is even a documented case of a DHL airbus being hit by a SAM in Iraq. The pilots were BARELY able to get her on the ground. I believe there is information online about this particular event.

I don't remember if you said you would be flying over the Middle East or not but I would think that would be somewhat on the way. Now if you're flying a single engine piston they might not open-up on you, not wanting to waste a rather expensive SAM, although Triple A or simple machine-gun fire could be a problem. Your biggest risk would be people taking pot-shots at you. This actually happened in Vietnam...farmers would take long, low probability shots at American jets. The problem was, if you have millions of farmers doing that every day, eventually someone gets hit.

I would research this greatly before setting off over that area.

How many GA aircraft have been shot down in the Middle East in the last 20 years?

Probably more of a risk in the states !
When i was growing up I used to think I would never go to america fearing I would be shot at every 5 mins I have since found I was wrong in thinking that.

Actually would love to land in Iraq on my way south at a British or American air base I think it would go down great obviously with ppr 1st

Also if the weather is bad I sit on the ground and wait if in the air you either go back or find a way round

one life live it :D

Morning Guys and Gals

I Am now getting near to finishing the website and starting the sponsorship/fundraising for the trip will post link another time when spoken to the Mods.

I have for some reason automaticaly chosen to go from U.K south then east bound but is you were doing this trip leaving U.K. in May would you go east or west ? would you plan to leave in May from U.K. or another time of the year ?
I can get 1500nm range maybe able to increase it up 1700nm and still have 1hour reserve
cruise speed 160 kts no Oxygen would still like to do south pacific Islands to or from Chile

Nothing like getting a group effort

Cheers

No oxygen really cripples you for a) terrain and b) weather avoidance.

In general one flies east out of the UK because of the prevailing airflow.

When you start planning the flights, you will find a 1hr reserve is completely useless, because there are simply too few airports with a) customs and b) fuel and c) opening hours etc etc etc.

If 1 hour is no good then maybe should plan Australia up towards Japan and up round Alaska Canada etc would be cool to stop by Buffalo Airways LOL