Hi all, as I am sure you are eager for an update I thought I would put down what we have gathered from a short call with James. Both are fine, albeit exhausted. The flight took 16.5 hours, which considering the headwinds and needing to fly around storms is pretty good (funny how in light of this trip a 16.5 hour flight doesn’t sound too bad…). The flight however sounds like it was a bit of a roller coaster ride. In fact to quote James, “It was not for the fainthearted”, and you know when James says something like that it really means it was hell of scary…
Leaving Guam, our intrepids were faced with some serious storms and thick cloud, so decided to try and climb above them. At just over 10,000 feet they realised they were farting against thunder and were never going to out-climb the clouds, so descended through heavy rain to 1,000 feet. They flew the majority of the flight at 1,000 feet in heavy rain. In fact they say that they have now flown through so much heavy rain that the quick fix aerosol paint job we did on the cowling of this unpainted prototype now almost looks like its has had a lightning strike!
They are now staying at the Majuro Hotel, which I believe is the same hotel that James and Mike stayed at during their 2009 ATW adventure in the Sling 2. They plan to rest for now and will depart when the weather looks good.
The plane is flying absolutely beautifully they say, and they are falling more and more in love with her after each leg (Jean however is quick to say that Flight (his dog) is still his first love…). They also say that one of the largest contributors to keeping their spirits up is knowing that there are so many of us down here, up there with them, so thanks to all the amazing support we have had. It makes me think of a quote by Nelson Mandela. “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” I for one feel that James, Jean and Mike have made such a difference to my life by allowing me to be part of this adventure, that their lives are pretty damn significant.
The guys have no internet on Majuro so the next major update from them will be when they get to Hawaii. In the meantime we will try our best to keep you updated and entertained.
Signing offAndrew
