Austrian pilot Helmuth Lehner touched down at Bali airport yesterday in his tiny ‘ultralight’ aircraft which he is using to circumnavigate the globe on a round-the-world solo mission.
Beginning and ending the mammoth journey in his home country, Helmuth has so far travelled through 17 countries including Greece, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Before arriving on the island, Helmuth departed from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, taking a total of four hours to reach Bali.
“Tomorrow will be exactly four weeks since I left my beloved country of Austria,” stated Helmuth upon landing at Ngurah Rai yesterday. He added that so far, all has gone to plan on the trip, which has seen him flying over 70 hours in the air to reach Bali.
“The target travel time to circumnavigate the globe in this aircraft is three months,” he said, explaining that the purpose of his mission is to raise funds for charities around the world in honour of his friend Hans Gootman, who died in a plane crash in Italy a year ago.
“On Sunday I will fly to Darwin and then on to Brisbane, Australia. There I will enjoy the atmosphere for 10 days,” he said. From there he will be crossing the Pacific towards America and onwards back to Europe to complete the journey.
