This June, an historic aviation challenge will take place as twenty South African teenagers embark on a Cape to Cairo (and back) excursion in a self-assembled Sling-4 aircraft that uses ordinary motor fuel and was built in just three weeks.
In different teams, the teens will pilot and charter a course that will cut across several African cities and towns.
Teen pilot, author and motivational speaker Megan Werner (17) from Krugersdorp, Johannesburg, founded U Dream Global Foundation, sparked by her passion to inspire others.
The foundation aims to uplift, empower, equip and transform the lives of thousands of youth throughout Africa and the world.
In a statement, Megan says, ‘The challenge has enabled us to take a lot of teenagers from different backgrounds to teach and equip them with life skills that they can take with them into the future. Throughout Africa, we are hoping to do similar, impacting thousands of lives of the youth that are the future of the continent.’
Following final inspections and flight certifications, Megan and various teenaged co-pilots are now set to fly the light aircraft from Cape Town to Cairo, charting a course across Africa to visit towns and cities.
Included in the itinerary are Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea to Egypt and a return trip that will cross countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia.
Voluntary support for logistical aspects of the flight is being provided by CFS, ExecuJet, Worldfuel and Mike Blyth, founder of The Airplane Factory – the enterprise that designed and built the original Sling plane series. The prototype of the Sling 4 was chosen because this type has already been flown twice around the world.
The challenge will be documented on video using drones. The teenagers will fly alongside adult supervisors who will use a second Sling-4 aircraft to monitor and support the young pilots.
The team hopes to raise a total of R 350,000 through donation-based crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy, to go toward covering the costs of fuel, accommodation, crew support, commercial flights, branding, and documentation of the trip.
‘By doing this project we can show the youth and people right across the world that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. If teenagers can build a plane and fly it Africa what is stopping you? We hope the public will support our BackaBuddy campaign because a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step!’ says Megan.
Support this cause on BackaBuddy here.
The excursion is earmarked to start on 12 June 2019.
Image source: Supplied
