GTC Customer Plans to Fly Round the World in 80 days for Charity

GTC Customer Plans to Fly Round the World in 80 days for Charity

One of our customers, Dave McElroy, is planning to fly around the world in 80 days in his Comanche 180 plane to raise money for charities that are very close to his heart in a trip called RTW80. When we heard about Dave’s plans we wanted to help and offered to lend him a DeLorme inReach satellite tracker so that everyone can track his progress throughout his trip.

The RTW80 route that Dave will take is 37,000 nautical miles (68,000 km) and amounts to two overlapping around the world flights, including 3 Atlantic crossings, 6 continents and 50 airports- all in 80 days!

Dave hopes to raise funds and awareness for two very special charities: SickKids and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance. He has a personal connection with the SickKids charity in particular, which is recognized as one of the world’s foremost paediatric health-care institutions, because his grandsons are ‘Asperger’s Kids’ and he says "We’ve experienced the priceless support of health care organizations so we wish to give back." The funds he raises will also be shared with Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance; a charity that delivers front-line emergency care to the remote communities of Scotland and is funded solely by donations so Dave’s help is sure to make a big difference.

Dave McElroy's Tracking Points

A few weeks ago Dave McElroy and his son Cort were hoping to participate in the Royal Aero Club’s 100th anniversary Schneider Trophy air race, unfortunately it was called off due to bad weather but the journey home gave them the perfect opportunity to test out the DeLorme inReach satellite tracker. It worked perfectly and as you can see from his tracking images that the inReach tracks the exact location of the flight, illustrating speed, altitude, direction of flight and location by latitude/longitude.

DeLorme inReach

The DeLorme inReach is an award-winning satellite communicator that enables 2-way personal and SOS communication and remote Follow-me/Find-me tracking. Because the inReach uses the Iridium satellite network, it provides 100% global coverage, with no gaps or fringe coverage areas and will continuously broadcast Dave’s location as he circumnavigates the world.

We wish Dave the very best of luck and look forward to watching his progress!