[国际新闻] 英盲人冒险家驾微型飞机环绕地球

日月光

冒险家迈尔斯•希尔顿•巴伯已经驾驶飞机飞遍了大半个世界，然而令人惊奇的是他竟是一个完全丧失视力的人。 " c9 A) ]' B. J' y5 q; |2 k1 h
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　　57岁的希尔顿•巴伯是一位勇敢的英国人，他借助“会说话的”电脑软件驾驶着一架微型飞机计划从伦敦飞往澳大利亚。他最近的一段航程是从印尼飞往澳北部城市达尔文，这是迄今为止他飞行距离最长的一段行程，由于糟糕的天气，这次飞行被推迟到本周末进行。本周末到达悉尼后，他将完成13500英里的飞行旅程，打破世界纪录。  1 `/ [/ Q2 u/ |0 Y8 J( f
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　　迈尔斯利用随机携带的一台电脑操作和驾驶飞机，另外为了备份和确保安全降落，还有一名副驾驶员斯托姆•史密斯陪在他身边。    I3 q: I  H' M( K& M
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　　25年前，由于患上色素性视网膜炎，他的视力丧失了。迈尔斯进行的这次大规模飞行将作为盲人飞行员第一次飞行载入世界吉尼斯纪录。
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Blind pilot's arrival in Darwin delayed   April 22, 2007  e6 ^: [  m- k3 z7 v

9 F+ H+ C0 U- ~5 L- b4 JThe first blind pilot to fly half way around the world has encountered a second set-back, with strong head winds delaying his arrival in Darwin until Monday.  r8 x, T$ B# E# K' z

% e; d8 F/ C: C: UMiles Hilton-Barber was expected to reach Australia on Saturday, 48 days after setting off on his epic journey from London in a small microlight plane.0 ]- k; P1 l- }7 T- K# i# g0 |8 m; J  d

+ O) v. u3 K) m$ x/ QBut maintenance work on his customised small hang-glider-like aircraft - which uses speech-output from navigation instruments to steer a course - pushed his arrival time back a day.
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A spokeswoman for the 57-year-old motivational speaker on Sunday said strong winds in Indonesia had again delayed the flight.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de4 V* l# S: r; Y% S
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"There has been some bad head wind so they haven't taken off," she told AAP.  H2 p8 R$ r$ B7 z& y# O
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"They, hopefully, aim to do that tomorrow and will arrive in Darwin in the afternoon."/ @# T7 p5 z0 Q* ~5 v. C

, M  O% O9 s* U6 \( XHilton-Barber's arrival in the steamy tropics will follow the most dangerous leg of his adventure. He will cover the longest distance over water in his journey, from the city of Kupang, on an Indonesian island east of Bali, to the Northern Territory.
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- d( ?  e8 Z; ~9 T% f) V' `The father of three, who has been blind for 25 years, is expected to complete the final leg of his journey to Sydney before the end of the month, when he will soar into the record books as the first sight impaired pilot to clock the 21,722km trip.* c! K1 d! ~5 K8 |; v" D

; p. V- @3 }5 @& c- f/ K' eHe is accompanied at all times on the marathon flight by one of his two co-pilots, who are responsible for speaking to control towers.; V0 W: v3 J8 y$ T& n' p
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So far, he has traversed 18 countries and weathered a windchill factor of minus 25 degrees Celsius while above the Lebanon mountains.
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. A! p- K/ ~9 }1 D6 g" w8 QHis route follows the same path of the classic London-Sydney 1919 Air Race: travelling across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, via Pakistan, India and Burma to Malaysia, Indonesia, Darwin and Sydney.
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It is hoped the trip will raise $2.5 million towards the prevention of blindness in developing countries.