WB6RQN Flight Over Pacific Continues After Engine Problem

"The Circle Is Complete"...Brian (WB6RQN) & "Spirit" arrived back Home (Kestrel Airpark, Texas) 04Aug. @ 2339z after 65 day 'round-the-world solo flight !!! "Ain't It Good To Be Back Home Again"

It's Party Time !!! "ROLL OUT THE BARREL"



Congratulations to Brian & "Spirit" - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED...



(Can't wait for the "BOOK")
Steve / W5BIB

 

You're right, Steve!

There are still some Flight Patches left, for those who want them.
They are given to contributors to the flight.
It is the same patch that Brian Lloyd wears on his flight suit, a high quality round sewn embroidered patch that has velcro hook on the back.
Brilliant red, white, royal blue, with gold, and forest green.

Project Amelia Earhart 80th Anniversary Flight Patch

Project Amelia Earhart 80th Anniversary Flight Patch



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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Download: PDF TXT

Brian Lloyd Pilots His Plane Round The World -
Flight Followed Historic Route on Earhart 80th Anniversary -

Spring Branch Texas, USA. August 4, 2017 - Brian Lloyd, solo-flying his single-engine aircraft Spirit, landed at Kestrel Air Park today, completing his circumnavigation of the globe. He was accompanied over the last few miles by an escort of pilots in eight planes flying in formation with him. On the ground, a reception and hangar party welcomed him home.

At the celebration, Brian Lloyd said, "How do I say, 'thank you' to everyone here and abroad who has helped me along the way on this epic journey? I couldn't have done this solo flight without the time, effort, and good will of hundreds of people out there around the world."

He began the round-the-world flight at that same spot on 31 May 2017, then flew to Miami on 1 June to commemorate exactly eighty years since the famous Amelia Earhart flight began. For two months, he followed the historic Earhart equatorial route, stopping at dozens of airports that were once grass and dirt airstrips where Earhart had landed. Some of those airstrips have grown up to become sprawling international airports, while others simply don't exist anymore, or are in the midst of conflict zones.

Brian Lloyd completed the historic route on 30 July, by landing at Oakland, California, which was Earhart's unfulfilled final destination. He retraced the steps of Amelia by visiting the historic building at Oakland airport where she had stayed during her original flights.

Brian Lloyd said, "I am driven by the spirit of historic flights. It is important to remember the aviation pioneers like Amelia Earhart, and their contributions to aviation. Their bold actions made today's air travel possible for all of us."

Lloyd's route included an homage overflight of Howland Island, that tiny atoll in Pacific Ocean where the famous flight was mysteriously lost in 1937. He dropped two large pink tropical flowers over the site in memoriam for Earhart and Noonan.

When he reached Hawaii, Brian Lloyd said, "My respect for Amelia Earhart has risen a thousand times now that I have flown 28,000 miles in her shoes. Speeds are comparable, and I have had to deal with the same sort of weather that she did."

Brian Lloyd is the first solo aviator to complete the historic Earhart equatorial route. Spirit has endured fierce winds, blasting sandstorms, and severe tropical weather along the equator. It has not been an easy flight, due to the long flight hours and complex logistics. On July 14th, Spirit's engine failed momentarily at 21,000 feet over the Pacific ocean, forcing Brian Lloyd to land in New Zealand for repairs.

Everywhere he went, he invited ground crew and friends to sign the airplane with a marker pen. It became a mission of outreach and goodwill. The plane's fuselage and wings are now covered in signatures that bear witness to the huge network of support that it takes to fly around the world. At the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison Kansas, Lloyd was awarded the medal from the Ninety-Nines, the famous international organization of women pilots founded in 1929, of which Amelia Earhart was its first president.

Several world records were set by Brian Lloyd and Spirit on this flight: First solo flight of the Historic Earhart Equatorial Route, and first male pilot to fly the Historic Earhart Equatorial Route in a propeller aircraft.

Upon landing in Texas, Brian Lloyd commented, "Hopefully I can motivate kids to go out and try new things. Here I am at sixty-three, in a single engine aircraft, flying around the world. You can go out and do something amazing, too."

Brian Lloyd's aircraft, a Mooney M20K 231 with tail number N916BL, is outfitted with 200 gallons of fuel capacity and modern satellite avionics gear, giving it a 3000 mile range. But, like the Earhart's famous Lockheed Electra plane, there is a High Frequency (HF) radio in Spirit. Brian Lloyd used the HF radio to communicate with hundreds of ham radio operators all over the world while he was in flight, using the callsign "WB6RQN Aeronautical Mobile".

About: Brian Lloyd, 63, is a pilot, flight instructor, engineer, educator, and radio operator. He lives near San Antonio, Texas, USA. The commemorative flights like Project Amelia Earhart, are co-sponsored by The Classic Aircraft Aviation Museum, a non-profit in Texas, and many other individuals who contribute to support the flights through donations.

Project Amelia Earhart website: http://projectameliaearhart.org
Press Kit: http://projectameliaearhart.org/press

 

Outstanding! Great results, which were of course, inevitable (ok, my fingers were a little crossed).

Thanks again, Bonnie KQ6XA, for your promotion of this endeavor, and naturally for your activities enabling ALE method of radio connection. My meager mobile shack, combined with non-favorable band conditions, left me without a contact with Brian, but it was fun trying.

Also, thanks to Steve W5BIB for bringing the project's Facebook posts to QRZ, for those of us who don't participate in that service.

Big cheers to Brian Lloyd, Amelia Earhart, and all adventurers that turn "the Impossible" into simply "very Difficult"!

David / N2PQW

 

Cool Flight, As a student pilot I'm jealous!

It's been 80 years since the demise of Amelia Earhart.
Sadly she was murdered! Before you accuse me of a conspiracy thing, I've spent countless of hours of research on Amelia Earhart.

The readers Digest condensed version:
Well into her historic flight, (In 1937) Amelia Landed accident;y on the Island of Sipan, she was looking for fuel.
Sipan is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands about 9 nm northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia.
In 1914 the island was captured by the Japanese (During WW 1) and was well occupied into WW II.
Soon after she landed, the Japanese took her into custody because of one piece of equipment she was carrying on board.
Shortly after she arrived she was arrested, blind folded, transported by side car motorcycle to a pre-dug grave, where she was executed by the Japanese.
It is believed that the plane still exists and is intact.
A few years ago, her niece made the historic flight in an EXACT replica of Amelia's Lockeed Electra 10E airplane, made by Lockheed!
Well, it was almost exact, Lockheed brought in one of the original aeronautical engineers from the thirties (out of retirement) and consulted him to the affirmation the they had created an exact duplicate. He did confirm that yes it was in fact correct......except for one thing.
Just prior to Amelia and her navigator leaving with the Lockheed Electra, Lockheed asked her if they could install an additional item to her plane, she agreed.
That item was a spy camera.
She was charged by the Japanese for spying and summarily executed. She was 40.

There is a lot more to the story, this isn't the place.


"What's in your hamshack?"
Mark

 

Thank you very much Brian for you courage and sharing your adventure. I wish I knew about the event... Also, Thank you Bonnie for the promotion and photos. Great Job!!!
Best 73, Ronny KG7A