Attempt To Fly Over Poles Doesn't Make It Out Of Pilot's Home State

It was supposed to be the start of a great adventure. Sunday, Gus McLeod seemed to have what he needed to become the first man ever to fly around the world on the polar route -- in a single-engine aircraft -- had good weather, a good ship and a goodbye crowd that included a television crew. The day ended just 30-miles from McLeod's home airport, Montgomery County Airpark, MD, with a broken plane and a pilot wondering how this could have happened.

"We've got a disaster," McLeod told the Washington from a hangar at Frederick Municipal Airport. "I feel embarrassed. I don't know what to say.... I don't have a clue as to what failed or why it failed -- all I know is it failed."

"It" began as a vibration Dr. McLeod felt shortly after take-off from Montgomery County Airpark, on his way to the North Pole. "I couldn't put my finger on it. The vibration was off; it was doing something amiss." The 50-year old Gaithersburg, MD, man landed at Frederick and found that his wheelpants had partially detached from the nosewheel.

No worries there. He simply removed the wheelpants and prepared to get back into the air. But as he taxied back out to the runway, the nosegear of his Korean-made, Velocity-inspired KARI Firefly completely collapsed. The nose of the aircraft thudded sickeningly on the runway.

It was the second heart-wrenching failure for McLeod in his attempt to set a new aviation record. As Aero-News reported last year, McLeod's attempt ended in Argentina when his engine failed 80-miles north of the capital. He was able to set the Firefly down in a pasture, but damaged his landing gear in the process.

Now, the would-be adventurer plans to pick up the pieces and take them to Baltimore for repair. What about the world-record attempt?

"It may mean that I go in the spring. It may mean I go to the South Pole first," he told the Post. "But I'm still in it, I'm still in the race, I'm not giving up by any stretch of the imagination. It's not in me to give up."

FMI: www.gusmcleod.com