Pilot Has Crossed Mountains, Oceans, Arid Desert

The pilot of an autogyro attempting to circumnavigate the globe has recently passed the 4,000 mile mark in his bid to be the first to accomplish the flight.

Norman Surplus has now flown his autogyro successfully across Europe and most of the Middle East.  He has negotiated mountains, sea and arid desert, and says he has found interest and offers of help where ever he has landed. Weather and local bureaucracy, both of which have forced Norman to extremely high altitude for this type of aircraft, have been the only things standing in his way. The support on the way both real and virtual has been considerable, with even a former candidate for President of the United States citing Norman as one of his heroes!

After 14 days flying, he set out on 22 March, he has flown over 4,000 miles including more than 800 miles across the open ocean. Norman and his autogyro have traveled through UK, France, Italy, across eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Apennines in Italy were his first real mountain challenge. Because of the normally low altitude flying of an autogyro, Norman says he has been particularly impressed by the arid desert of the Egyptian interior juxtaposed with the lush flood plains of the Nile River.

Surplus took a break Wednesday in Abu Dhabi for a routine maintenance check, and was expected to fly on to Oman on Thursday.

FMI: http://gyroxgoesglobal.blogspot.com/