Ryan Cambell is a 19-year-old Australian pilot who established a world record for travelling around the world in 70 days. He achieved the feat in a single-engine Cirrus SR22. Departing from Wollongong New South Wales on Sunday June 30, 2013, he completed his journey right on schedule at the point he started from on Sept 7, 2013.

Earlier, Jack Wiegand, a 21-year-old American pilot, held the record for completing circumnavigation on June 29, 2013.

Ryan wanted to be the youngest pilot and first teenager to fly solo around the world, and it wasn’t just because he liked to fly. “Not only am I trying to inspire youth to take flight, but for their dreams to take flight too, in whatever field that may be,” he said.

The distance travelled by Ryan during the 70 days was around 24,000 nautical miles and he did it in 180 hours, approximately, while making 31 stops in 15 countries over four continents. His longest leg was 15 hours and shortest 15 minutes.

Ryan Campbell speaks about his experience flying around the world in his single-engine plane last year

About his planning and the journey, Ryan said, “My plan was for it to be done in 70 days and we stuck to the plan. I made sure I was not trying to race around the world.”

Ryan’s team included a range of ferry pilots, airline pilots, industry professionals and family and friends led by mentor and fellow round-the-world pilot Ken Evers. Sharing about the problems or challenges faced by him during the journey, he said, “I spent two years planning my trip meticulously with the help of some very experienced people so I knew some of the things I might face. I was expecting everything and expecting nothing at the same time, if that makes sense. There are so many possible challenges when you take on something like this but you don’t know if you will face many, or face very few. Some of the things I dealt with involved refuelling, landing permits and weather. You just have to be sensible and think clearly.”

I planned for two years for a successful and most importantly safe journey. Safety was always my number one priority so we took every precaution we thought necessary. My longest flight was almost 15 hours and I did have some early morning departures in the dark as well as one night time landing in the dark.

And what other precautions did he take? What about long flights over oceans and did he fly at night too? “As I said I planned for two years for a successful and most importantly safe journey. Safety was always my number one priority so we took every precaution we thought necessary. My longest flight was almost 15 hours and I did have some early morning departures in the dark as well as one night time landing in the dark. On most legs, however, I tried to take off at first light in the morning and land mid afternoon.

Haris and his father made several references to Ryan’s success but the latter says he didn’t know them personally. Still, he advises other young pilots following in his footsteps to “Plan, plan and plan some more. I spent so much time speaking with ferry pilots from all over the place to try and learn from them and I would say that is imperative for a successful flight. There also needs to be no compromise on the aircraft maintenance and safety.” — S.H.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 24th, 2014