Larry Bunner <lbunner>
writes:

Join Larry Bunner and Robin Hamilton on an epic journey as they
fly ~1600 miles (2700km) from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian
border. They will be attempting this challenge by aerotowing aloft and then
soaring their way northward over Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska,
the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana over a three week period in June and July.

I began flying hang gliders with my four brothers in 1975. We purchased a glider
for $395 that had a Sears swing set seat to support us as we ran down the dunes
of Lake Michigan skimming over the ground to land near the lake. Floating
unencumbered above the earth is a feeling that few can imagine. For me it was
the realization of a recurring dream to fly freely through the sky. And thus
began my passion for the past 44 years.

Reflecting back, there have been many notable moments leading to the present. In
the early 80's, pilots began towing in the flatlands behind trucks to get aloft.
This opened up new opportunities to get airtime and led to my first cross
country flight of 23 miles. This one flight ignited a fire in me to continually
strive to fly as far as possible. In 1987 I towed up and flew from West
Brooklyn, IL to Herrick, IL for an unheard of 176 miles. It was the longest
flight in Illinois, Region 7 and east of the Mississippi River, and the longest
flight ever off of tow.

I started competing in the early 90's with good success. Competition flying is a
great way to improve your skills by learning to fly further faster. It is for
this reason that I continue to compete; to become a better pilot so that I can
fly even larger distances. Flying with the best pilots in the world opens up new
possibilities on what I can accomplish. I love studying maps and meteorology as
it relates to soaring and continue to challenge myself by dreaming up and then
executing flights that haven't been accomplished before.

This all leads up to my loftiest dream to date; to fly from the Gulf to Canada
during the upcoming summer months. This project/dream is taking shape and the
resources have been procured to make it happen. Joining me will be well known
international pilot Robin Hamilton and tow pilot Rick Mullins.

Robin writes: I started flying hang gliders in 1981 in the Scottish Highlands
and started competition flying in 1983. I initially flew in Europe and since
1996, I've been flying mainly in the US. I have competed for both UK and USA
National teams in over a dozen European and World Championships and have 8
podium medals from all that. I also hold medals in Class II hang gliding and a
half dozen World distance records in that class.

Besides competition, I simply love flying and for as long as I can remember,
have been fascinated with flight and thankful for all the wonderful life
experiences hang gliding has provided. The experiences very much include being
part of the whole community and culture that comes with free flight.

I am super excited to be doing the Gulf-Canada migration. Firstly, we are going
to start from my flying backyard down in Texas - It has some of the most
friendly fly-far air on the planet and for sure the best way to start an
adventure. Second, I've often looked out the window from the many
Houston-Calgary business flights I've taken and wondered what it would be like
to fly over the expanses of Kansas, the Dakotas or Montana, with the super-high
cloud bases and interesting colorful terrain. Now we have the opportunity to
find out!

The journey will begin from the Mustang Beach Airport in Port Aransas on the
shores of the gulf in late June or early July by towing aloft and then racing
northward as far as we can go. We will then select the nearest airport, to
repeat the process until we reach the Canadian border sometime in July.

Come and follow us each day via live tracking and be sure to join our Facebook
group too. Daily reports will be published as we fly through America's heartland
northward. Pilots are welcome to come and fly with us as we journey northward!

I will publish links to their live tracking and Facebook pages as
soon as they make them available.