18 And All Alone

Taking flight

When the wheels of Lachie’s Cirrus SR22, VH-IBC Spirit of the Sunshine Coast, had left the ground in early July, years of preparation had already been completed. Seeking sponsorship, obtaining international clearances, flight planning and organising accommodation were just a few of the many tasks that had to be resolved before he could ever take flight and become the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the planet alone.

Still, somehow, as his Cirrus roared into life at Sunshine Coast Airport at Maroochydore in the pre-dawn darkness that day, every base had been covered and now it was up to Lachie to execute his dream and make it a reality. As he climbed away in the darkness, ahead lay nearly 24,000nm of flight over diverse terrain and 15 countries on five continents.

His route would take him across the Pacific Ocean, staging via Fiji, Pago Pago, Christmas Island and Hawaii before making landfall on North America’s west coast in California. Across the USA he would then head north to Canada and cross the Atlantic via the Azores to Biggin Hill in England. Across the Channel to France, it would then be onwards via Crete, Egypt, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia before Australia would finally again appear in the windscreen.

The term ‘epic’ can be overused, but there is little doubt that such a flight is truly epic. It is epic not only for the skill in navigating one’s aircraft around the globe, but also in having to deal with foreign authorities, airspace, refuellers, foods and cultures, to name just a few of the challenges.

Setting course

Plans are tremendous things as they provide a framework and reduce the degree of uncertainty of what lies ahead – they reduce, but do not eliminate the uncertainty. Still, it can be the surprises along the way that can add character to any endeavour and the highlights to many memories, and it was no different for Lachie Smart as he made his way around the world.

On only the third leg of the flight, as he flew from Pago Pago in American Samoa to Christmas Island, he met with one of the greatest challenges of his entire journey. Just south of the Equator he closed in on the intertropical convergence zone or ITCZ, where the north-east and south-east tradewinds come together. For the sailors of old this region was known as the ‘doldrums’, but for pilots it is an area of convective activity and a breeding ground for towering thunderstorms.

Hand flying his heavily-laden Cirrus in increasing turbulence, he weaved between the huge monoliths in the sky that dwarfed his aircraft, all the while managing his fuel’s ferry tank system and struggling with communications over less than ideal HF frequencies.

For airliners in the flight levels the region can be challenging, for a young, relatively low-time pilot in a Cirrus, daunting probably doesn’t quite capture the emotion.

Finally, he found a gap and the skies lightened, leaving the worst behind and his first hurdle overcome. By comparison, the flickering lights, undersized bed and missing showerhead at Christmas Island, Kiribati was a non-event and a welcome sight after a nine-hour flight.

The leg between Hilo, Hawaii and California always attracts attention. It is a long, lonely sector over a vast expanse of ocean that can make even the largest aircraft feel rather small. Lachie and his team had pushed this sector back by a day due to a hurricane lurking to the south of the planned route, but now his 2:30am departure was near.

With the Cirrus full of fuel at its absolute maximum weight he was ready to depart, although his flightplan could not be located in the system at the last moment. There he sat with his engine idling, sipping precious fuel and unnecessary time to contemplate what lay ahead. Finally, he was cleared to become airborne and the Cirrus slowly climbed into the dark, summer night.

In addition to being heavy, the ferry tanks had the Cirrus balanced with a very aft centre of gravity, making the aircraft ‘pitchy’ and sensitive to fly as it slowly climbed towards 9,000ft. With the island’s lights behind him and high overcast above, the darkness resembled the inside of an unlit coal mine, calling upon every ounce of Lachie’s concentration to fly the aircraft at the edge of its legal performance envelope. To him, the absolute absence of visual cues outside made him feel as if he were flying in space.

Hour after hour he carefully monitored his instruments, engine and fuel, reducing weight and increasing daylight. The need to stretch his legs was great and finally after 14 hours he was able to do so on American soil. The longest leg was now behind him.

Northern exposure

After the endless hours of the Pacific Ocean, flying across the United States was an absolute joy for Lachie. Without the weight of ferry tanks full of fuel the Cirrus was a spring chicken and an absolute delight to fly. Radio communications were clear via VHF and sector lengths were closer to three hours set to amazing scenery such as the Grand Canyon, although the northern summer did come with its share of convective turbulence over this scenic wonder.

The ease of communication came with a range of American accents which Lachie found interesting as he made his way from Las Vegas to Texas, on to Nashville and north to Niagara Falls. Friendly folks across North America would often query the Australian registration, only to learn that it was a teenager flying around the world. One air traffic controller in Nashville responded with “You’re crazy!”, which undoubtedly resulted in smiles at both ends of the transmission.

After flying to St Johns in Canada, Lachie now faced an Atlantic crossing. The options were either a northerly route via Iceland or Greenland, or further south via the Azores, a group of islands to the west of Portugal. Being a Queenslander, he opted for the warmer climes of the Azores. The nine-hour flight began in cloud and solid instrument conditions before breaking into the clear to witness a stunning sky transformed by majestic cloud formations.

The flight was made more pleasant when he made communications with another pilot, also in a Cirrus, only half an hour behind him and also bound for the Azores. That night they had dinner together, but the next day Lachie was back on task and preparing for the flight to England.

Turning for home

To date, things had gone smoothly and to plan. However, submitting a flightplan with Portugese authorities did not go quite as harmoniously as he’d hoped. His bee-line to Britain would become a European vacation, transiting Portugal, Spain and France before touching down on English soil, adding another five flight hours! When Lachie was finally able to speak to someone about the re-routing, he was informed that his preferred route would require a waypoint every 50 miles for 1,500 miles. He set to work and finally submitted his plan with a string of 30 latitudes and longitudes. Twelve hours after submission, his plan was finally accepted on the original route that he wanted. Finally, he was bound for England.

England provided Lachie with a reprieve. The eleven day layover allowed the Cirrus to be serviced and Lachie to catch up on sleep and meet up with his UK-based relatives. So far there had been limited downtime for sightseeing or much else other than flightplanning, media commitments and flying. Now there was a chance to regroup before setting course for France, Crete, Egypt and beyond – and as it turned out, Lachie would need every ounce of energy and patience in the days ahead.

It is a long, lonely sector over a vast expanse of ocean.

The beauty of the French countryside and a stopover in Cannes preceded a sector to the Greek island of Crete which came with the challenges of both weather and rather difficult air traffic control. On leaving the beautiful Mediterranean island bound for Egypt, air traffic control again proved an issue and the constant battle for appropriate airways clearances was rather fatiguing after the first half of the trip had not thrown up similar problems. But still it was to get worse.

The departure from Egypt for Oman saw a three-hour delay in 45 degree heat when Lachie’s fuel drums couldn’t be found. Then for more than five hours of the 10-hour flight, he encountered significant turbulence over the Red Sea, tossing Lachie and the Cirrus about, with huge fluctuations in airspeed. Landing in Oman he was fatigued well before the long wait for his transport to the hotel and by that night he was spent.

Departing wasn’t much fun either with more delays waiting for very expensive fuel, highly inflated handling fees and a demand for cash payment in local currency or his aircraft would not be moving. Maxing out the limit on his debit cards and making up the balance, he finally departed Oman for Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, similar issues occurred at the hotel and bank guarantees had to be organised at the eleventh hour to cover payment or he would be detained, despite payment having been made by EFT. Flying the aircraft was rapidly becoming the simplest aspect of the flight, while waiting for the refueller and transport became Lachie’s new pastime.

Sri Lanka to Malaysia was a reprieve with favourable tailwinds and good air traffic control. The same couldn’t be said on the next sector into Halim, Jakarta where clearances were issued at the very last moment and an ILS was flown into poor visibility at the minima, followed by a three-hour wait for fuel.

Departing Jakarta for Australia, Lachie was issued with the wrong airways clearance and then was held for over an hour as the President was departing Halim, even though he was ready to depart before the Presidential movement came into play. An amended clearance set Lachie’s course straight towards mountains at a height that exceeded his ability to climb over them. He repeatedly requested for diversions clear of terrain and ultimately was simply told “diversion approved” and didn’t hear from air traffic control again until they relayed the frequencies on which to contact Brisbane control. They were the wrong frequencies.

Fortunately, Brisbane had been listening in and interjected with the correct frequencies. Now Lachie felt like he was nearly home.

Homecoming

He returned to Australian soil touching down at Broome, where he was greeted by an ARFF water canon salute. He then headed to Darwin, with Qantas’s historic birthplace at Longreach and Hinkler’s hometown of Bundaberg making up the final stages before his final approach to the Sunshine Coast, where it had all begun. Touching down on August 27 to a hero’s welcome of more water cannons plus a key to the city, all he had thought of for the final two hours was “. . . don’t stuff up now”. And Lachie didn’t. The job was done and the record was broken.

A week later, when the dust had settled, Lachie had time to reflect upon what he had achieved. The two and a half years of preparation had been hard work, but he had loved the flight, even with the challenges in the final stages. For the moment he was enjoying sleeping in his own bed and catching his breath, but still there are goals to be pursued. By year’s end Lachie is planning to have obtained his commercial pilot’s licence, complete with a multi-engine command instrument rating.

In the coming year, university calls as does the lure of flying professionally. And if that wasn’t enough, he is passionate about launching his ‘Young Achievers’ project that will carve the way for others.

There is no doubting Lachie’s drive and the level of maturity beyond his years that saw him fly around the world. They are qualities that not only allowed him to break the record, but will hold him in good stead as he strives to conquer the next challenges beyond his horizon.

One gets the feeling that this young man can achieve whatever he sets his mind to, but that whatever may come his way it will do well to match the time that he set course alone and conquered the globe.

Flying the aircraft was rapidly becoming the simplest aspect of the flight.