March 03, 2007	Saturday	Safar 13, 1428

LONDON: A blind adventurer is bidding to fly from Britain to Australia in a bid to raise one million pounds ($1.9m) o fight preventable blindness, he said on Friday.

Miles Hilton-Barber, who has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and completed a marathon in Siberia, is now hoping to become the first ever non-seeing aviator to complete the 21,700 kilometres journey. The 55-year-old is taking to the skies in a micro-light and recreating the route of a 1919 air race which will take him over the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“When I was 18, I applied to be a fighter pilot but was later rejected due to poor eyesight,” he said.

“Now, 37 years later and blind as a bat, I have this wonderful opportunity and privilege to fly more than halfway across the world.” Hilton-Barber is flying alongside a sighted friend and hopes to complete the journey within 55 days.—AFP