Two Australian pilots have successfully completed the first leg of a circumnavigation to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Flying a Beech Bonanza A36, Jim Hazelton, 79, and Brit Expat Jeremy Rowsell, 39, departed California’s Oakland International Airport on April 7 and were expected to arrive at Sydney Airport in mid-April.
Departing California and flying at an average altitude of 7500ft while crossing the Pacific Ocean, Hazelton and Rowsell made stopovers at Hilo (Hawaii), Kirabati (Christmas Island), US Samoa, Suva (Fiji), Norfolk Island, and Brisbane before reaching Sydney.
This first leg saw the pair emulate Charles Kingsford Smith’s record-breaking trans-Pacific flight in 1928, when in the Southern Cross the Aussie aviation pioneer became the first person to fly from the US to Australia.
“It’s aviation history in the re-making,” Rowsell said at the launch of the pair’s ‘Flying 4 the Doctors’ charity adventure at Bankstown Airport on March 21. “Kingsford Smith made his historic flight in 1928, the same year as the Royal Flying Doctor Service first took flight from Cloncurry in Queensland – a perfect synergy between two Aussie aviation icons.”
While re-creating Smithy’s history making flight on their first leg, Hazelton and Rowsell are also using the circumnavigation to raise money to help the RFDS buy seven flight data recorders for their fleet.
“Every year there are many worthy fund-raising efforts in support of the Flying Doctor, but this is a little bit different,” Jane Austin of the RFDS South Eastern Section said.
“We understand Jeremy’s and Jim’s passion and desire to emulate their heroes and know that as experienced pilots their preparation, equipment and contingency plans will have to meet the highest professional standards.”
With the first leg of their circumnavigation in the can, Hazelton and Rowsell are looking ahead to the next chapter of their adventure.
“For a pilot this is the ultimate challenge, the aeronautical equivalent of climbing Everest,” Rowsell beamed. “Only a select few have ever done it and we intend to join that club.”
To follow Hazelton and Rowsell’s journey visit www.flying4thedoctors.com.
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