John Milnes
Raising money in aid
of the
Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Dreams Come True
Fly the entire coast
of Britain in 3 days
on the 27th, 28th and
29th August 2008
The challenge is to fly the entire coast line of mainland Britain in 3
days, this represents 3000 miles and a flight time of approximately 26 hours in
total. The flight will track the coast and be filmed and photographed by Brian
Cook, of Brian Cook Productions. Brian has kindly joined me in this endeavour,
generously donating his time, equipment and expertise for the trip.
John Milnes is
45, and works as an IT Project Manager, currently for Norwich Union in York. He
has recently qualified as a private pilot, and has 95 hours flying experience.
John has ambitions to become a flight instructor, he currently
holds a night rating and thanks to the great team at Jersey Aero
Club he now holds an IMC rating.
Call sign G-BWZG
(Golf Bravo Whiskey Zulu Golf) is one of two Robin R2160 at
Sherburn Aero Club. She is a two seat, low wing fully aerobatic trainer,
featuring dual 'stick-controls' and a bubble canopy making them ideal for
learning aerobatics. Zulu Golf is about 10 years old and cruises at 120knots.
She is rated to +6g and -3g which is more than adequate for all but the highest
level of competition aerobatics.
John and Brian face numerous dangers, fatigue is a major factor, flying a
light aircraft is a “hands-on” job and the cockpit can be a very busy place for
the pilot. During the flight John will be responsible not only for the flying of
the aircraft but also all of the navigation and communications with air traffic
control. Zulu Golf has no autopilot so will need John’s full attention when in
the air. Bird strikes are a problem anywhere for light aircraft, but
particularly on this flight as our coastline is home to some of our largest
birds. And remember Zulu Golf only has one engine! A bird strike can have fatal
consequences. And our great British weather, sea breezes can be refreshing when
on the beach but to light aircraft they can cause a lot of problems. wind shear,
downdrafts and updrafts can all cause severe turbulence up to 2500 feet.