Blind pilot completes micro flight-of-fancy

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Flying a tiny Microlight aircraft across the world through snow and over open ocean would test the courage and skills of anyone.

But blind British adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber on Monday completed an epic 21,700 km (13,500 mile) flight from London to Sydney in what friends called "a motorbike in the sky".

"The only thing holding me back was five inches, the distance between my ears. Attitude is what determines altitude," Hilton-Barber said after a victory pass over Sydney's sparkling harbor and Opera House in perfect morning weather.

The 58-year-old from Derby is the first blind pilot to fly a motorized hanglider more than halfway round the world, crossing 21 countries on a 55-day journey which began at Biggin Hill airfield, near London, on March 7.

The father of three passed over Europe, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, following the route taken by the classic 1919 London to Sydney Air Race.

In case of emergency, he flew with sighted co-pilot and microlight champion Richard Meredith-Hardy, and used talking navigational computers to help steer his course.

"Sometimes, being blind is an advantage," he told Australian media, describing the pair's encounter with snow storms over Lebanon's mountains.

"We've flown through tropical storms so heavy that I thought Richard was flying through a waterfall."

Hilton-Barber, who went blind 25 years ago after contracting an eye disease and being kicked out of the Royal Air Force, took the trip on to raise money for the charity Seeing is Believing, which aims to help prevent blindness in developing countries.

"It's a very physical way to fly, very primitive. I can smell what's growing in the fields below. As we fly into places like Karachi, I can smell what's been cooked in the factories," the motivational speaker said. In 1999, Hilton-Barber finished the toughest foot-race on earth, crossing the Sahara Desert, and soon after ran the Siberian Ice Marathon, billed as the world's coldest.

He has also climbed Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, and says he aims to be the first blind man to break the sound barrier in a jet aircraft.