Australian teenager Ryan Campbell has successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world.
Campbell landed in Van Nuys, California, on Wedneday having left Wollongong 11 days ago.
The most recent leg, a more than 14-hour marathon from Hilo to Van Nuys, has long been considered as potentially the most challenging of the entire 70-day adventure.
Campbell had spent dozens of hours planning the leg and spoken to many pilots who have ferried aircraft across the Pacific but the teenager said nothing had quite prepared him for the mental challenge the leg presented.
“I knew it was going to be hard and it was beyond even my wildest dreams,” Campbell said from Los Angeles where he will spend four nights before moving onto Tucson in Arizona.
“The winds in the first five to six hours were not cooperating and were a lot stronger than I had expected after looking at the weather maps.
“I basically spent 14 hours doing fuel calculations and as I crossed the point of no turning back to Hawaii I certainly took a few deep breaths.”
Campbell fulfilled another dream by landing at Van Nuys on runway 16R, made famous world-wide by the evocative aviation documentary One-Six-Right.
Campbell said he was driven by the desire to repay the backing he had received from supporters and corporate Australia.>
“So many people have gotten behind me over the last two years to help me to, literally, get the Teen World Flight off the ground and I kept thinking about them and saying a quiet thanks as I flew along,” he said.
“Those tough times, when mentally you are under pressure, are the ones I really try and feel and appreciate all of the support I have had and continue to receive.”
Campbell will now stop at nine more destinations in the USA, including a week in Oshkosh for AirVenture – the world’s biggest airshow.