Flying for Heroes was set up less than a year ago and is a part of Help for Heroes that provides assistance for wounded service personnel. Incredibly, in only a few months, a number of these personnel have been trained and flown Para-trikes and Para-motors on an epic adventure in Kenya.
Back in November 2013, the selection process began resulting in the eight person flying team plus support personnel being carefully chosen. Rory Mackenzie, who served in the British Army as a combat medic but lost a leg whilst serving in Iraq, was appointed as Team Leader. A team-training event took place in May. In July 2014, flight training for these student pilots commenced and ran for a three-week period at a flying school in Spain. The following month, a three-day trial expedition was made that involved a trip to the World War One battlefields on the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the war. Then, in September, the expedition commenced and what an adventure it turned out to be.
These brave and resilient pilots flew a distance of 1,000 kilometres from Mt Kilimanjaro that is located on the southern border between Kenya and Tanzania to Mt Kenya up north. They will have flown over desert, water and jungle – not places that they would have wanted to have to crash-land in. In addition, they also drove off-road support vehicles across difficult terrain and slept in the bush no doubt with the possibility of having to face wild animals and snakes.
Not deterred by their disabilities and the challenge of flying these Para- trikes and Para-motors such a long distance, the team completed this incredible feat safely. They have accomplished something that has never been attempted in the past and should be justly proud.
In November, Flying for Heroes is holding a fundraising gala diner. They also wish to set up a bursary to provide wounded service personnel with the opportunity to receive a flying scholarship.
Here at AIB Insurance, we are pleased to have been able to support the Flying for Heroes Kenya Expedition 2014 by arranging suitable specialist insurance cover for the expedition. We can, of course, arrange any sort of travel insurance no matter how adventurous and dangerous your trip is or if it is merely to cover a more sedate ten-day family holiday on a beach in Spain.
To find out more about the Flying for Heroes enterprise please visit them at www.flyingforheroes.org
We have attached a link below to the pre-documentary teaser video (kindly provided by Jon Maguire of 3RM). We are sure that you will enjoy watching the video of the expedition, see it here:
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