Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Longest solar-powered flight by paramotor-the
Cardozo family sets world record
CEUTA, Morocco -- The Cardozo family travelled
in 15 days 1,242 miles (2,000 km) from Monte Carlo to Morocco
in an electric sun-powered paramotor -setting the world record
for the Longest
solar-powered flight by paramotor
.
The
team comprised Gilo Cardozo
, 30, his brothers Cosmo
,
26, and Damian
, 39, along with Damian's daughter Tilly
,
17, and five other pilots, while the rest of their families
were following on the ground. ( enlarge
photo
)
Reaching heights of 1,500m (5,000ft), nine
pilots took it in turns to fly the contraptions over France
and Spain.
'Each day was a new adventure' said one of the
Cardozo brothers, Damian, who arrived home in Mere, Wiltshire,
on Saturday.
The electric paramotor is powered by lithium
polymer batteries, which are charged in rotation using 12
solar panels on top of a support vehicle. The team took it
in turns to pilot the craft, and also flew three other bioethanol-powered
paramotors, covering on average 130 miles a day at a top height
of 5,000 feet.
Gilo Cardozo
, an aviation engineer and
managing director of Parajet
,
managed the flight technology of Bear Grylls's paramotoring
expedition into the Venezuelan jungle for Channel Four's Lost
World. In 2007 he helped Grylls to become the first man to
fly a powered paraglider above Mount Everest.
Three other machines that took part in the world
record attempt for the Longest
solar-powered flight by paramotor
– which included
a spectacular flight over the shark-infested Straits of Gibraltar
– ran on biofuels.
The trip raised £10,000 for Ataxia
UK – a charity supported by Damian and his
wife, Madeleine. Three of their six children were diagnosed
with the debilitating condition, that attacks the nervous
system.
Ataxia
is a neurological condition which gradually sees people with
the condition lose control of their body and have problems
with balance, speech, and co-ordination. This is because parts
of the nervous system that normally control co-ordination
and balance are affected. There are many different types of
ataxia with different causes and symptoms; many are inherited.
For more information on the expedition visit www.theincrediblewebsite.org
.
Related world records
:
Longest
rickshaw ride-world record set by Simon Etkind and Lianna
Hulbert
Longest
unsupported Arctic journey-Emirates NBD Greenland Quest sets
world record
Bicycling
across Canada-world record set by Cornel Dobrin
Youngest
to sail solo around world-Zac Sunderland sets world record
Longest
Distance Skated on the Road
-Abhishek
Navale sets world record
Greatest
Distance on Motorcycle in 24 Hours-world record set by Omar
Al Mamari
Fastest
transcontinental flight in a LSA-world record set by Matt
Hansen and Jessica Scharle
Youngest
passenger to fly in microgravity-world record set by Jules
Nader
Most
countries visited-world record set by Kashi Samaddar
Fastest
journey to the South Pole-world record set by Todd Carmichael
Wednesday,
August 12, 2009