Record-breaking pilots return home

Nadine Braun and Colin Hales flew all the way to Australia

Two flying enthusiasts from Oxfordshire have arrived home after a record-breaking journey which took them to the other side of the world.

Colin Hales and Nadine Brauns flew all the way to Australia in a home-made plane.

Their tiny two-seater KR2, which has a wingspan of just 6m, is the smallest plane ever to have flown from England to Australia.

The idea was not to set records, it was just to see how far we could get

Colin Hales

After fifteen months away, the couple flew into Oxford airport in Kidlington on Thursday morning.

It took around 60 flights altogether to get to Australia, and they stopped off in 21 countries.

While they had many adventures on their trip, Mr Hales said one of the scariest times was flying over the India-Pakistan border just after a spy plane had been shot down in the same area.

"The idea was not to set records, it was just to see how far we could get,'' said Mr Hales, an aeronautical engineer who lives near Oxford.

Next year the couple plan to fly their aircraft to the US for celebrations of the 100th anniversary of powered flight.