Rotax’s 9-series engines have propelled several aircraft in round-the-world flights. One major user of the Austrian powerplants is The Airplane Factory in South Africa. They’ve done so many circumnavigations of the planet, you could be excused for losing count. However, very long flights in an open cockpit airplane are rare. The very first such involved four open cockpit Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, which Donald Douglas modified from his DT-2 torpedo bomber. In April 1924, eight U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics in four airplanes left Seattle, Washington, to carry out the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. Only one completed the entire journey 175 days after 74 stops and flying about 27,550 miles. Amazingly, 35 replacement engines, along with numerous spare parts, had been distributed throughout the world to assist the effort. In contrast, our trike adventurers had but one engine and only each other to support a voyage four times as long as the 1924 group.
Globetrotting By Weight Shift Trike — Adventurers Fly 100,000 Miles In An Open Cockpit
Rotax's 9-series engines have propelled several aircraft in round-the-world flights. One major user of the Austrian powerplants is The Airplane Factory in South Africa. They've done so many circumnavigations of the planet, you could be excused for losing count.
However, very long flights in an open cockpit airplane are rare. The very first such involved four open cockpit Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, which Donald Douglas modified from his DT-2 torpedo bomber.
In April 1924, eight U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics in four airplanes left Seattle, Washington, to carry out the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. Only one completed the entire journey 175 days after 74 stops and flying about 27,550 miles.
Amazingly, 35 replacement engines, along with numerous spare parts, had been distributed throughout the world to assist the effort.
In contrast, our trike adventurers had but one engine and only each other to support a voyage four times as long as the 1924 group. No wonder Rotax was pleased to help report the following story.