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Pittsburgh, PA, USA to Chibougamau, ON, Canada I turned up to Zelienople bright and early on the morning of Monday, May 6th. Shortly after I arrived, lots of others started trickling in; these included many friends and aero-club members, Jeff and his colleague from Miracheck, and even an Associated Press photographer and a film crew and news anchor from Pittsburgh’s Channel 4 News! We spent about 2 hours fueling, doing a news interview, and carrying out the final packing and…

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After another month in the deserts of the Middle East, I finished work, and headed to the US less than 10 days before planned departure. The work that was scheduled for completion while I was away had not progressed very far, so it was to prove a hectic few days getting ready for departure! The aircraft: While I was away, Quality Avionics of Grove City had removed my Avidyne IFD-440 GPS unit and replaced it with the larger Avidyne IFD-540…

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A major aim of the training was to ensure that I was fully ready for all the expected aspects of the trip that are outside the usual bounds of my flying. The longer legs, primarily over the Pacific near the end of the trip, would require flights of up to 16 hours (or even more, depending on winds), the first sections of which would be with the aircraft at a very heavy weight. Before departing I set out to practice…

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Safety and training More so than any previous trip, a flight around the world requires thorough planning, training, and preparation. Pilot, aircraft, and support team all have to be ready to deal with the many and varied challenges that might arise. This second post covers some of the safety aspects and pilot training carried out in the run-up to the trip. Should the worst occur on an over-water leg, I don’t want to be learning about the art of sea…

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More so than any previous trip, a flight around the world requires thorough planning, training, and preparation. Pilot, aircraft, and support team all have to be ready to deal with the many and varied challenges that might arise. This first post covers the initial preparation and upgrades carried out on the aircraft. Aircraft preparation Before setting off on a trip like this, where maintenance opportunities might be limited and long over-water legs are needed, the aircraft has to be in…

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