September 4, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 6, 1424

WASHINGTON: Three years ago American aviator Gustavus McLeod flew halfway around the world in a history-making flight to the North Pole and now he plans to finish the trip.

Circumnavigating the globe next month with only “pluck, luck and skill” as passengers, McLeod will embark on a four-week 48,280 kms trip around the poles to excite kids about flying as part of America’s celebration of the centennial flight.

Because of the climate extremes, circumnavigating the globe via the poles is more difficult and riskier than via the equator. The first around-the-world solo flight across both poles was accomplished by American Elgen Long in 1971.

McLeod plans to make about 20 stops en route and to teach lessons from the sky to school students, communicating via e-mail or live from the Internet in his cockpit.

The lessons, which will touch on aviation history and sciences, will vary depending on which part of the globe McLeod is flying over. Over Brazil, for example, he will talk about Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. When he is over the pole students can expect a lesson on the ozone layer and over London they will learn about aviator Amy Johnson.

McLeod’s flight from Baltimore, Maryland, set for October 13 at an estimated cost of about $300,000, will be part of the US celebrations to mark 100 years of powered flight since December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers kept the “Flyer” aloft for 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

—Reuters