Blind ambition

By Victoria Bone
BBC News

The microlight has been adapted

Microlights tend to be the play thing of weekend hobbyists, rather than a means for flying half way round the world. Try telling that to Miles Hilton-Barber, who is about to pilot his all the way Australia. What's more, he's blind.

He's already circumnavigated the world using 80 forms of transport, scaled Kilimanjaro, completed more than 40 skydives and run two of the world's toughest races - the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara and the Siberian Ice Marathon.

Miles Hilton-Barber is no ordinary 58-year-old father of three, which is why his plan to become the first blind aviator in history to fly half-way round the world, comes as no surprise to those who know him.

He will use a computer adapted with a speech synthesizer to give him the same information that a fully sighted pilot receives and his attempt will begin as soon as weather conditions allow.

BLINDNESS FACTS Every five seconds someone in the world goes blind About 37m people globally are blind But 75% of all blindness is preventable

Although he will do the flying, Miles will be accompanied by his sighted friend Storm Smith during the 13,500 mile flight. By law a sighted co-pilot has to accompany him and take over the controls in rough landings and emergencies.

The microlight journey will be completed in stages, with the route following the classic London-Sydney 1919 Air Race, travelling across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, via Pakistan, India and Burma to Malaysia and Indonesia down to Darwin, then to Sydney.

What drives Mr Hilton-Barber - who lost his sight 25 years ago - is wanting to change people's preconceived ideas about being blind. It is also an appetite for challenges, which he says would be the same even if he wasn't blind. His disability has just added an extra facet to things.

Attitude

"One day I realised the problem wasn't my blindness, it was my attitude to my blindness," he says. "So many people have 20/20 vision, but they're blind because they don't see their potential. We can all do more than we think."

He's a trained pilot who has passed all his microlight tests and he's confident there won't be a problem.

"As a kid I joined the Rhodesian air force, but they kicked me out because they said my sight wasn't good enough. Now, 37 years later and blind as a bat, I have this wonderful opportunity," he says.

Hilton-Barber wanted to be a fighter pilot

The aircraft he is using is a British-built 100 HP flexwing Pegasus Mainair GT 450, capable of cruising at 70 mph. He hopes to undertake up to two flights a day, completing the journey in under 55 days.

If the pair do it in less than 49 days, they will set a new record time for flying a microlight aircraft from Britain to Australia, for all-comers - not just people with disabilities.

The adventurer, from Duffield, Derbyshire, lost his sight to a genetic condition, retinitis pigmentosa. He is now on a mission to make preventable blindness a thing of the past and hopes his trip will raise £1m for the Seeing is Believing campaign, run by Standard Chartered Bank.

There are risks involved in any such record attempt but microlights are no more dangerous than any other form of flying, says Geoff Weighell, chief executive of the British Microlight Aircraft Association.

"It's no more dangerous, but it is more fun. It's like the difference between driving a saloon car and a motorbike. You really know you're flying."

Mr Hilton-Barber has pushed himself many times before but says this will be his most difficult challenge yet, especially as there will be no back-up on the ground.

"The challenge will be immense," he says.

To follow Miles's progress and or make a donation, go to www.seeingisbelieving.org.uk/microlightadventure

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Send us your comments using the form below.

As a trainee pilot I will take this opportunity to correct you in that flying is NOT merely "a rich man's plaything". This is a misconception regularly pedalled by the media. Most pilots are merely ordinary people who happen to have an out-of-the-ordinary job/hobby. However, aside from this, this is a great thing, a round-the-world flight in a microlight is no mean feat, and it will be a great challenge to Mr. Hilton-Barber, I wish him the very best of luck in his adventure!
Paul Smith, Edinburgh

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