Norman has landed in Myanmar / Listen to him on the radio

Norman has landed in Yangon, Myanmar 12.13.20 (IST). You can listen to Norman on the BBC radio programme 'Talkback' via the internet. It is transmitted today (27 April 2010) and it was recorded yesterday by phone from Chittagong, Bangladesh. The programme is on the air from 12.00 (IST) and here is the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007cpt4 

Norman is flying to Myanmar / Norman's actual safety monitoring system

Norman is flying to Yangon in the Union of Myanmar / Burma today - hurray!

Numerous followers have expressed concern about Norman's safety when they see the SPOT tracker disappear. In fact the SPOT GPS system is not directly linked to Norman's safety monitoring. While he would activate the SOS facility on the SPOT machine if needs be, he is not solely relying on this system. The SPOT was chiefly set up so that people on the various electronic fora can follow Norman's progress.

The real safety system as McMurdo FAST Finder Plus (with GPS) personal location beacon (PLB) beloved of long distance sailors and the like (photo of actual machine above). This is attached to his lifejacket which he always wears while flying - even over the desert!. In the event of real emergency this is the system that would be first and foremost used. This then sends a signal from anywhere in the world via satellite to the in Royal Air Force (RAF) Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Kinloss, Scotland. In addition a group of volunteers from Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol are also monitoring Norman.

By the way Norman put new batteries in to the SPOT so that everybody can keep an eye on him!

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Norman plans to fly to the Union of Myanmar / Burma today

Norman was planning to fly to Yangon in the Union of Myanmar / Burma from Chittagong, Bangladesh today weather permitting. Because of delays yesterday his flying permission lapsed so he will not able to fly today. 


The distance to Yangon is about 430 miles / 690 kilometers and he expects it to take six hours all going well. The final part of this journey will involve crossing mountains, the Arakan Yom range, which is always a challenge in an open cockpit aircraft. It is hot and humid in Chittagong and there is at least a 50% chance of heavy rain so that is not entirely good news! It is fine weather there now.

From the Union of Myanmar / Burma he will fly on to Thailand and he plans to stop off at the following places:

• Bangkok 
• Samui Airport VTSM 
• Hat Yai International VTSS

Rained soaked autogyro in Chittagong - what to do next?

Norman had planned to fly to Mandalay or Yangon in the Union of Myanmar previously known as Burma today. This may be on hold because of thunderstorms in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Norman gives his input on this and more here. 

Below is a nice picture of the scene outside my Hotel this morning  in Chittagong, Bangladesh. A very active thunderstorm system has arrived and it’s raining hard - poor old Gyrox is at the airport sitting out in the open (I had tried to plead my case to get her put under cover last night but to no avail - the more I work with large airport administration the less I think they are actually concerned about the real needs of  aircraft and aviators. 

The fact that after all their delaying paperwork and endless phone calls to each other to check the fine nuances of an administrative detail (you know how it goes- is that the right code number on this yellow chitty or should it be the one on the pink sheet, sit down I better just check with my supervisor who has just nipped out - he’ll be back in a minute...would you like some Tea?) someone has to actually climb into an aircraft and actually fly the thing is furthest from their mind it seems.

the Aircraft has its lightweight cover but I doubt this rain will be kept out - it’s not a County Antrim Drizzle! Of more concern is the rotor head which will be getting a good wash but this is not ideal if the careful greasing work is being undone...

Will have to take a view later as to the possible routing (if any flying is possible today at all)  

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Norman has arrived at Chittagon, Bangladesh

Norman has arrived at Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagon, Bangladesh - 10.24.50 am (IST)

Norman may have set the flight distance world record in India

Norman is flying to Shah Amanat International Chittagong Airport, Bangladesh today. This is a distance of 118 miles / 189 kilometers flying east. Norman flew into Kolkata, India, yesterday afternoon and in doing may have set a solo world distance record for an autogyro flight.  

"Norman Surplus being greated by the staff at Jamshedpur Airport, India before flying on to Kolkata (Cap. Karanveer Chauhan)

On arrival in Kolkata, he had flown 7,118 miles (11,455 kilometers) from his official departure point Larne N.Ireland. This is a longer distance than the previous record established in 2004 by the Global Eagle team who's "Total distance travelled since start: 10,480 km" / 6,511 miles. 

Norman disappears into a sea of onlookers!

He has also been nominated for another world record i.e. "Speed over a recognised course" - Larne, NI to Alexandria, Egypt - according to the Fédération Aéronautique International (FAI) who are overseeing his flight.  See FAI link for more records.fai.org/data?c=7 

Norman departs Jamshedpur for a date with history!

Photos by Cap. Karanveer Chauhan and Shalini Sharma.

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Norman arrived safely Kolkata, India.

Norman is off to Kolkata, India / some notes on his day to day activity

Norman is off to Kolkata, India also known as Calcutta his last stop before leaving India and entering Bangladesh and the Union of Myanmar previously known as Burma. This flight is about half what he flew yesterday and will be just over 140 miles / 225 kilometers. We understand that Indian national media will be there to see him off at Jamshedpur and some international media will be at Kolkata to greet him. Let us see what happens?


One follower asked some questions about some of Norman's day-to-day activity and here is the Q & A.

• Where does he eat and sleep? - Norman eats and sleeps either in regular hotels or as a guest of a host if lucky. Hotels have varied greatly in price and quality as you can imagine.
• Where does he do his laundry? - Laundry which is limited is done at the accommodation.
• What type of fuel does the autogyro use? - It uses normal unleaded (95) or Avgas. There is a full range of information about Gyrox autogyro on the website http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/ 
• How are pictures and blog entries etc. done? - Pictures are sent to the back up base by Norman or who ever else took Them. Blog etc. info is usually delivered by phone, text and some times email depending on access to latter or the time Norman has.  It is then written up at our base and posted on the blog, website, Facebook and Twitter.

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Norman has landed at Jamshedpur

Norman has landed at Jamshedpur, India at 12.20 (IST) approx

Norman is flying to Jamshedpur Airport, Indian today.

Norman is flying to Jamshedpur Airport, India today. This is a distance from Raipur of just over 300 miles / 480 kilometers flying east. Norman will be flying over a mixture of high lush green forest and drier arid low lands. He will once again need to fly high to avoid the intense heat. This means he cannot fully enjoy the close views of the ground usually experienced by lower flying which autogyros excel at.  

As with his other flights through India he may see some localised forest fires. As he flew over them at over 6,000 feet / 2,000 meters in some cases he could clearly see the flames as they leaped high into the sky. At other times the strips of flame reminded him of lava flows. This brought to mined the erupting volcano in Iceland and the trouble travelers are having in Europe - but Norman flies on! Photo below for illustration purposes and not from Norman unfortunately - inflight photography has proved particularly difficult.

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