On April 12, 2015, Michael Smith boarded his small craft hoping to fly solo 6,900 kilometers from Melbourne, Australia to Southampton, England in no more than eight weeks. Upon succeeding in that goal, he chose to lengthen his adventurous flight. Read on now, to learn how he would go on to actually set a new world record.

Michael Smith Has Unbelievable Trip When He Flies Solo Around The World

1.  The Beginning

Smith, a registered pilot who holds dual Australian and British citizenship, is based in Melbourne, Australia. He is not a professional pilot. Once a designer of cinema equipment, he owns a chain of movie theatres.

When his sons decided to take time off before continuing their formal education, Smith finally focused on the idea to fly from Australia to England. He’d thought about it for years and it took one year to plan. The planning actually took longer than the trip itself.

2.  Inspiration

Smith was inspired by older aircraft; especially by the Imperial Airways’ flying boat service. Launched in 1938, the service flew from Sydney, Australia to Southampton, England. It included a total of nine overnight stops, by way of the Middle East, aboard a unique “four-engine Short Empire flying boat.” Smith told the press that a passenger would pack his “dinner suit” since you would enjoy a formal dinner each night.

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3.  Choices

Smith had to choose wisely since actually recreating the journey required the right plane. He considered a number of different aircraft until he finally decided on a custom-built amphibious flying boat. It was a single-engine, two-seater plane known as a “Seary.”  

It was built in the USA in the state of Florida. The plane can land on both the water and a runway. He christened the craft the “Southern Sun.”

4.  A Unique Craft 

What reportedly sealed the deal for Smith was the fact that what became the Southern Sun was actually a modern aircraft with the appearance of the 1930s planes that inspired him. Still, because of the distance involved, he made changes to the craft’s design. He had additional fuel tanks installed since the standard aircraft only has a four-hour fuel tank.

Once the extra tanks were added, he had 13 hours’ worth of airplane fuel which covered the flight to London. In order to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, he had another tank installed which gave him 21 hours’ worth of fuel.

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5.  Planning His Route

It was impossible for Smith to recreate the original route. It was not possible to get permission to land some of the original stops. Since the bulk of the trip crossed international borders, he had to plan pit stops at specific places in order to make it through immigration and to refill his tanks with the correct fuel. He said it took him several months to complete the paperwork prior to take-off.

6.  Lift-off

Although he wanted to take off at Rose Bay in Sydney, he had wanted to bid his mother farewell first. She lives roughly 90 minutes east out of Melbourne. More importantly, he wanted to tell his mother about his plans in person. That night he landed in Wollongong which is south of Sydney leaving early in the morning and landing in Sydney Harbour.

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7.  Earth From The Sky

The flying boats from the 1930s only needed 10 days to make the trip. Smith, however, wanted to take some time to explore new places and see new things, so he planned a two-month journey. Mind you, he did not have to cross international borders to see stunning sights from the sky.

8.  The First Stop

His first stop beyond Australia was the island of Timor-Leste. It is a special place to Smith. His work meant he would be well-received there because he has a traveling cinema program in the city of East Timor. They show movies to the TV-less residents there free of charge. More importantly, the capital city of Dili was where flying boats refueled in the 1930s.

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9.  Little Aircraft, Large Airport

Smith’s adventure took him through unfamiliar sections of Asia. Before he reached the Middle East, he landed in Bangkok, Karachi, and Singapore. He especially enjoyed landing at the busy Dubai International Airport. He landed his little craft near the large A380s. 

10.  Landing on Lake Como

Although he found the larger airport terminals exciting, he enjoyed other experiences as well. He liked water landings as well. Smith appreciated the intimacy of landing on lovely Lake Como in popular northern Italy where the customs officials came to meet him as he was landing.

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11.  A New Perspective

Smith truly enjoyed the new perspective he experienced seeing the planet from high in the sky. For example, he remarked about how he was amazed when he saw the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.  

12.  “London Calling”

16,900 kilometers and eight weeks later, Smith landed his plane in England. The authorities permitted him to land his flying boat in Southampton Waters prior to landing at well-known Damyns Hall Aerodrome outside of Upminster in East London.

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13.  A Big Decision

Smith was reunited with his spouse, Anne, in London. His wife flew there to join him for a month-long vacation in Scotland and England. Smith planned to remove the wings, pack up the aircraft, and ship it home to Australia.

Anne saw he was having fun. She suggested that he continue flying. So, he planned a route to Australia by way of the US and the Pacific Ocean. Ah, but the second part of his adventure would not go according to plan…

14.  Tackling The North Atlantic

The flight from Melbourne to London was reportedly easy. Smith encountered smog around Asia and Indonesia that made visibility somewhat difficult but not dangerous. Crossing the North Atlantic Ocean, however, proved to be a challenge. He flew from Stornoway in the Western Isles of Scotland in search of Reykjavík, Iceland. After a nine-hour flight across the ocean he discovered the clouds in Iceland to be so low they seemed to be touching the ground. It was difficult to reach the airport.

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15.  Unmarred Landscapes

Smith next flew from Reykjavík to the settlement of Kulusuk in southeastern Greenland. He was quite impressed with what he saw, especially the impressive ice floes found on the east coast. He recommends it to anyone able to travel there noting that it was “unique.”

16.  A Near-Death Experience

Little did Smith know that Greenland was actually the proverbial “calm before the storm.” He lifted off from Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and set his course for Canada. It was en route that he found himself surrounded by clouds. The clouds both above and below came together and became lost. He even lost control of the aircraft. He managed to land in Goose Bay in Newfoundland, Canada but to this day has no recollection of how he escaped the clouds and found his way there.

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17.  A Lesson

While he did not want to take off the next morning, he kept moving by changing the aircraft’s oil and doing other routine maintenance. When he found himself doing things he did not need to do, he realized if he did not take off that afternoon, he might not ever fly again. He comforted himself with the thought that he was not the only pilot to ever go through an experience like that and he had somehow managed to land safely. He chalked it up as a learning experience and vowed to be more careful.

18.  The Big Apple

Following a stop in Botwood, Newfoundland, to check out the Botwood Flying Boat Museum, Smith flew to Bangor, Maine, in the US. There he cleared customs and took off for New York. Rather than deal with the JFK Airport, he flew by Manhattan, the aircraft carrier Intrepid, and the Statue of Liberty, and landed right on the Hudson River.

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19.  The Mississippi River

Air traffic control supervised the Southern Sun’s moves, for a lot of the trip. Smith has already received clearance for dates and destinations in advance. In the US, however, he was not required to stick to a set plan ‘til he got to Seattle, Washington. 

Prior to that, he followed the natural flow of the mighty Mississippi River. He landed on the river each night and slept in his aircraft. It was like he was sleeping upside down so while it worked, it was not very comfortable.

20.  Onward, To Alaska

It was late September. Smith’s American adventure was all too quickly coming to a close. He definitely had no intention of being in the air over the state of Alaska in winter. In order to move up his itinerary, he flew for 12 hours straight from the state of Minnesota to the state of Washington. Then he took a quick flight to Seattle prior to heading towards Anchorage, Alaska. He had a gut feeling that it would not be safe to fly there after September.

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21.  The Ends Of The Earth

His destination was not really the Alaskan mainland though, he had another goal. He wanted to soar over the popular Aleutian Islands. This remote chain of 14 volcanic islands and 55 tiny isles are found west of Alaska, in the Bering Sea. When the weather unexpectedly turned, Smith found himself grounded for three weeks on the island of Adak, about 1,190 miles southwest of Anchorage.

22.  Abandoned Islands

The previously mentioned Aleutian Islands are generally abandoned, and their isolated locale worked in Smith’s favor. He did not have permission to land anywhere in Russian territory and was concerned about how his little aircraft would make it from Alaska to Japan without running out of fuel. He decided to stop at Attu, another Aleutian Isle, roughly 500 miles from Adak. Then he would fly to Japan. What he did not know was that the only residents of Attu were huge rats.

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23.  Going To Extremes

By checking Google Maps, Smith learned there was an intact runway on the rat-ridden isle. He worked out a plan to get to Japan. He decided to ferry cans containing six hours’ worth of fuel from Adak to Attu, unload them by the runway, return to Adak, wait for the weather to change, then make one long passage. His plan was successful, but he had to fly for 23 hours straight to reach Japan.

24.  Just One Gas Station

Adak only has one gas station. Nevertheless, thanks to his airship’s modern engine, which was able to run on either aviation fuel or gasoline, he made it to Japan. Smith told the press he did not know if he would have made it otherwise because when he left the islands he was using “car gas”. After all, there wasn’t anything else available.

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25.  “Homeward Bound”

He landed in the city of Kushiro, on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. He needed some rest. The weather was difficult, but he made it through Japan in one week. He headed to the Philippines in a couple of days, then stopped in Ambon in Malaku, Indonesia. Soon he was homeward bound. He landed in Longreach in the outback of Queensland, the birthplace of Qantas Airlines, completing his trip around the globe.

26.  “The End”

Technically, it took another two days to actually get home. He was reunited with his family in Melbourne on Saturday, November 14, 2015. He was proud to learn that his ship, the Southern Sun, had become the official “first amphibian aircraft to complete a solo circumnavigation.”

27.  “A New World Record”

If you actually study his journey on a map, you will see that this incredible voyage covered 52,000 kilometers (or 32,500 miles). His adventure took 210 days and included 80 stops in 25 countries and 480 hours of flight time. While Smith doubts he will ever top this trip, he does intend on flying the friendly skies again. He noted that he would like to fly the entire length of the famous Volga River in Russia and land in little places along the way to meet the locals and explore the area. The Southern Sun is far from being “decommissioned.”

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