Freedom Flight

Freedom Flight

A riveting account of a daring escape from Communist Hungary in a twin-engine plane: “I couldn’t put it down” —San Diego Union-Tribune. On the rainy afternoon of Friday, July 13, 1956, seven desperate young people boarded a twin engine DC-3 in the People’s Republic of Hungary, with the intention of diverting it to West Germany. They had no weapons, no map, and no idea whether the plane carried enough fuel to get them there. They would have to brave the gun of the security officer on board, the wild maneuvers of the pilot, the Russian MiG fighters in hot pursuit, and a harrowing flight over the stormy Alps, without navigation. Failure would mean certain death. And a spectacular escape from tyranny was born . . .

Freedom Flight

Freedom Flight

Freedom Flight is the story of two ordinary men on an extraordinary adventure. In celebration of the centenary of powered flight and a decade of South African independence, SA pilots Alan Honeyborne and Ricky De Agrela took off, completely unsupported, from Cape Town on 16 December 2003. Their aim – to touch down on each continent of the world on the longest expedition ever flown in microlights. The expedition achieved several firsts for private aviation including flying through Yemen and Nepal and completing an unsupported microlight flight from South Africa to Australia. However, tragedy struck, first in China where Alan went down and later in Belize, when Alan’s replacement, Martin Walker, also sustained a fatal accident. Ricky overcame personal trauma and debilitating fear to fly alone from England through Europe, over the Mediterranean Sea, the Sahara Desert and the wildernesses of East and Southern Africa to make it back to Cape Town. His accomplishment embodies the expedition’s vision of encouraging others to reach for the sky. The story of Ricky’s remarkable achievement is told in website updates and e-mail correspondence with maps detailing the 64 000-kilometre route.