Pilot on global trip stops over on Big Island
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
A British pilot circumnavigating the globe took a break in Hawai'i over the weekend before continuing the journey aboard her single-engine plane.
Polly Vacher, 60, landed her bright orange and black plane in Hilo on Friday and expected to take off for Christmas Island early today. It was the latest leg of an epic journey that is in its ninth month and that has logged more than 331 hours in the air.
Polly Vacher
"Every stop is a highlight, really," Vacher said in a telephone interview from Hilo. Her entire trip is to raise money for World Wings, an English aviation organization that provides flight training to the disabled.
The 16-hour trip from Santa Barbara, Calif., to Hilo included some tough conditions for Vacher. She found herself amid storm clouds bringing heavy rain, lightning and turbulence.
Since being seen off May 6 by Prince Charles in Scotland, Vacher has flown her one-seat plane over the North Pole, Alaska, and North and South America en route to Antarctica.
She had hoped to cross the South Pole, too, but strong wind and a depleted fuel supply grounded her plane in Antarctica for some time last month, before she passed up the pole and flew on through Argentina, Brazil, the Caribbean and across the southern United States.
After Christmas Island, she plans to fly to Pago Pago, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East before returning home, possibly in April. Along the way, she'll meet with supporters, including the queens of Bhutan and Jordan.
Vacher's Hilo stop was longer than most on her journey, but it wasn't her first time there.
When she flew around the world in 2001, raising $317,600 for World Wings, she made a 10-hour stop in Hilo.
This time, she was even able to view the lava flowing from Kilauea.
Vacher said she looked forward to a reunion with her husband, Peter, in New Zealand.
