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Update:
Global Trekking Pilot Completes Trip
You may recall AvjobsWeekly's
special report on Barrington Irving,
a young aviator with plans to fly around
the World in the name of promoting careers
in aviation to disadvantaged children. Well,
on June 27, 2007, Irving completed his global
trekking flight, which has unofficially
made history as the youngest person to complete
the solo flight and as the first African-American
to do so as well. Mentally and physically
tired, Barrington returned to thunderous
applause and the sound of a praying clergy
that surrounded him right in the middle
of the tarmac at Miami's Opa-Locka Airport.
Before landing his Columbia 400 single-engine
airplane, Barrington flew over the designated
active runway as a band played. Upon landing,
the 23-year old pilot smiled and waved as
he climbed out of the plane in his tan jumpsuit,
while hugging and greeting friends and family. "I
am home," he said quietly when he stepped
to a microphone. The long flight challenged
him mentally and physically, he said, and
I am proud to have had the opportunity to
live my dream. Irving, an aerospace student
who built his plane from more than $300,000
in donated parts, had left the Miami-area
city March 23. In all, his continent-hopping
journey covered some 27,000 miles. Dying
the last portion of his return leg, Irving
flew his airplane (called Inspiration) from
Houston to Mobile, Ala., in the morning
and then from Mobile to Orlando late in
the day before his last flight home. The
short flight from Orlando on the 27th completed
his journey.
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The National Aeronautic Association,
the aviation record-keeping authority in
the U.S., does not track pilots' age, sex
or ethnicity, said Nathan Rohrbaugh, who
helps coordinate records at the organization.
So, some of Barrington Irving's historic
achievements may not be recognized in their
database. The Website EarthRounders.com,
which tracks round-the-world flights, lists
255 journeys, including 82 solo trips since
1929. The trip has been done in far less
time than Irving, and even by younger pilots,
though they were not flying solo. Barrington's
trip may have been longer than originally
intended but never any easier than first
thought. From Florida, he flew to Cleveland
and New York before continuing into Canada,
then flying across the Atlantic to Europe.
He crossed the Middle East and Asia then
flew on to Alaska earlier this month. He
stopped in Seattle and Denver before arriving
in Houston last week.
Barrington Irving's trip was made possible
by the kind support of Miami Executive Aviation,
Chevron, Universal Weather and Aviation,
Miami Dade Empowerment Trust, Microsoft
Flight Simulator, Avidyne, Teledyne Continental
Motors, NASA, Miami-Dade County and many
more companies that believed in his dream.
We invite you to watch a
video report of Barrington's arrival
celebration courtesy of Miami-based CBS
affiliate WFOR.
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