On Thursday, 23rd April one of our club members, Bill Hosie will attempt to fly cross the English Channel upside down. He is doing this to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. He will be flying a Christen Eagle II (to see a larger picture tap/click on the thumbnail below) that he owns with eight other people. The upside down bit is expected to last under ten minutes. You can read more from the Somerset County Gazette and if you should want to donate to this worthy cause, see Bill’s Just Giving webpage. He has also been on the BBC, Points West. To see this video tap or click here.

For those of you that are curious about the specification of a Christen Eagle II it is reproduced below:

  • Stall Speed: 58 mph
  • Cruise Speed: 65 mph
  • Max Speed: 184 mph
  • Never Exceeded Speed: 210 mph
  • Roll Rate: 187 Degrees/second
  • Rate of Climb: 2,100 fpm
  • Vertical Penetration: 1,250 feet
  • Range: 380 miles
  • And the very important inverted flight time: Unlimited

Update: 23rd April 2015, 14:30

Bill Hosie has succeeded in completing his upside down flight across the English Channel. Well done Bill.