HALF WAY THROUGH... Highlights on Miles Hilton-Barber's microlight flight to Australia
17th Apr, 2007
- Did you know that every 5 seconds someone loses their sight?
- Did you know that there are already 35 million blind people in the world?
- Did you know that 75% of all these cases are preventable when diagnosed early?
Being blind for 25 years, adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber is fully aware of the importance of personal attitude in the desire to achieve goals when faced with almost insurmountable obstacles. So many people have 20/20 vision, but they're blind because they don't see their potential. We can all do more than we think' Miles says.
To show that nothing is impossible and with the aim of raising £1 million to help prevent blindness, Miles & his co-pilot Brian Milton started their 55-day microlight flight from London to Sydney on 7th March 2007.
Since then Miles has already flown his way through France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan, Saudi, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, where he was enthusiastically greeted & welcomed. In Cyprus he was joined by Richard Meredith-Hardy, who will be his co-pilot till the end of the journey in Sydney.
"Our route [in Saudi Arabia] is simply following the main international four-lane highway that also follows the main oil pipeline, so our GPS systems and maps are very much an optional backup!" [Mile's Blog, 17th March] Photo: Saudi Arabia (M. Hilton-Barber)
"I think we made history today, becoming the smallest aircraft to have landed at the huge international airport [Dubai Airport], according to one of the aviation people who have been around for many years." [Mile's Blog, 19th March]
"I was especially touched by the deep commitment of the youngest members of the bank's fast growing sales team here [Muscat Bank Staff], who all came to say hello to me afterwards - I could not have been made to feel more welcome!" [Mile's Blog, 21st March]
