Two Swiss pilots embarked on a round-the-world flight on April 30 and 51 days later they are back home in Switzerland. Yannick Bovier, 37, and Francisco Agullo, 41, created an expedition they call “Azimut 270” to celebrate 100 years of aviation in Switzerland, a country known for its natural beauty and for being bankers to the world. *** The dynamic duo returned safely on Saturday, June 19 after crossing two oceans, confronting suspicious government officials for country overflight permission, paying high landing and permit fees, battling fatigue and loneliness, performing routine maintenance that comes with so many hours logged, plus having to watch what foods they consumed during flight legs that several times started before dawn and ended after dark. (On-board bathrooms have yet to be installed in the first Light-Sport Aircraft making such biological necessities a real challenge). *** Starting on the last day of April, the duo leaped the Atlantic to Brazil by May 8 and then crossed the Caribbean to Miami, Florida, USA by May 13.

As they connect the dots of their plan to circumnavigate the world in celebration of 100 years of aviation in Switzerland, Yannick Bovier and Francisco Agullo have now spanned one immense body of water. The pair of twin Flight Design CTLS “Ecolight” aircraft cleared a big hurdle with the jump across the Atlantic from Africa to Brazil (map photo). Bigger bodies of water await the dynamic duo, two young European airline pilots. But before setting out across the Pacific, they will cruise across the USA to receptions like that which greeted the pair in Maimi. *** Flight Design USA’s John Gilmore says, “These kind of very long distance flight show pilots that Light-Sport Aircraft like CTLS can fly long distances reliably and efficiently.” All round-the-world flights so far in LSA have used the Rotax 912; this engine recently increased its Time Between Overhaul (TBO) to 2,000 hours, a comparable value to long-proven engines like Continental and Lycoming.

Way back near the dawn of Light-Sport Aircraft… in 2007, two Indian military pilots flew a CT around the world to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Indian Air Force. (CT later became one of the first LSA used in an Indian flight school.) *** On April 30th, two Swiss airline pilots took off on another round the globe flight to honor the 100th anniversary of the first flight in their country back in 1910. But this is a different effort than the 2007 Indian circumnavigation. The Swiss pilots — Yannick Bovier, 37, and Francisco Agullo, 41 — are using Flight Design’s newest model, the CTLS… and they’re using two of them! Yep, each qualified pilot will fly his own CTLS, and to keep things straight, they’ve named their aircraft Celine and Dreamcatcher. They’ll emulate South Africans Mike Blythe and James Pitman’s globe-girdling flight by going east-to-west.