Two Irish pilots are attempting to make aviation history by flying around the world in 80 days in a single-engined aircraft.
Dubliner Alan McMahon (29), and 33-year-old Paul Ryan from Limerick will spend more than 200 hours in the air during their round-the-world trip.
Their Cherokee aircraft will touch down in 19 countries, stretching from Christmas Island to Iceland, during the 25,000-mile adventure.
Paul and Alan will take off from Shannon Airport on May 1st and are due back on July 19th.
The round-the-world trip - which will cost €35,000 - will also be used to raise funds for the Marie Keating Foundation. "My mother died of cancer last year and Paul's family have also been affected by cancer so we decided to use the trip as a fundraiser for the Marie Keating Foundation as this charity does a lot to raise awareness about cancer," said Alan.
The idea first emerged in Australia where Paul and Alan met while training to become pilots.
"A huge amount of planning was involved for this trip and it has taken us a year to get where we are today. We had a lot to plan particularly in terms of arranging flight clearances for the 39 different airports we have to land in," said Paul.
At least 2,000 gallons of fuel will be used and the longest stretch of the journey will be a 10-hour flight from north-east Japan to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. "This will be particularly hard because we'll be flying over water for the duration," explained Paul, who admits he's nervous.
"I think every pilot should be nervous before they fly and I am nervous but not scared. We've undertaken survival-training programmes with the Air Corps, which will prepare us for difficult situations," said Paul.
However, not everyone is as excited about the trip. Newly-wed Alan said his wife Sonya was particularly nervous.
"My wife knew about the trip before we got married in January and it came with the deal when she met me that I was going to do this flight, but she's not too happy about it.
"She's fully supportive but just nervous and will be much happier when I get home," said Alan. "But at least she'll be able to keep in touch as we'll have have a diary page on our website which we will be updating daily," he added. After leaving Shannon on May 1st, Alan and Paul will head to Bordeaux. From there they fly to northern Italy and Crete before leaving Europe for Egypt and north-east Africa. Because of the current situation in the Middle East they re-routed their plans slightly and will fly to Yemen and into Oman before heading over the Arabian Sea into India.
They will spend two to three days crossing India before heading to Shanghai and Thailand and then to Australia.
They will then fly to the Philippines, and Japan and on to the Aleutian islands.
The final stretch will take them down the west coast of the US to Seattle, through Canada and then to Greenland and Iceland before returning.
People can make donations to the foundation by logging on to www.worldflight2003.ie, and all donations will go directly to the charity.