Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN, is scheduled to take off from Miami, Florida, on June 1 on a solo, round-the-world flight to commemorate Amelia Earhart’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe 80 years ago. Lloyd will be on the air from Spirit, his single-engine Mooney 231 aircraft, during the course of his journey, expected to take 2 months. He will follow Earhart’s historic route to fly around the globe at the equator, starting in Miami, skirting the Caribbean islands, then passing along the coast of South America before heading across the Atlantic.
“I am driven by the spirit of historic flights,” Lloyd said before leaving his Texas airstrip for Miami. “It is important to remember the aviation pioneers like Amelia Earhart and their contributions to aviation. Their bold actions made today’s air travel possible for all of us.”
In late May, severe weather on the Atlantic route and aircraft equipment problems forced Lloyd to call off his New York-to-Paris seed flight. “There was only a short window of time that the flight could have happened, and the window has now closed,” a May 22 announcement said.
Lloyd will be on the air using HF SSB on or about 14,210.0 kHz, 14,346.0 kHz, 18,117.5 kHz, or 7,130.0 kHz. Onboard he has a Mobat Micom-3 transceiver, which puts out about 125 W. His antenna is under the fuselage. He also will utilize ALE (automatic link establishment) on the Amateur Radio HFLINK frequencies.
“The flight route has some very long legs, so I will have plenty of opportunities during June and July to talk with ham operators while flying over the world’s oceans,” said Lloyd, 62, who has been licensed since 1976 but has been flying since 1968.
To give his 1979 Mooney aircraft additional range, he modified it to carry 150 gallons more fuel. He’s also equipped it with modern navigation equipment, long-range radio, and satellite communication gear. Since the flight involves some risk, special safety gear is part of his equipment ensemble.
In addition to being a pilot, Lloyd is a flight instructor and educator. He lives near San Antonio. His commemorative flight is co-sponsored by The Classic Aircraft Aviation Museum, a non-profit in Texas, and by individual contributions.
Source:ARRL
Review
“A viewer asks: I want a home base station trans/receiver so I can listen till I am licensed. Need an antenna too. But all for under $1000 if possible. Any suggestions? Joe and I talk about some options and settle on the Xiegu G90 as... Read more
Digital Modes
“Dear WSJT-X and MAP65 Users, We are pleased to announce that a public Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc4 is now ready for download by beta testers. On Windows the installation package also includes MAP65 3.0.0-rc4. See the Release Notes fo... Read more
News
Mysterious Radio Signal Discovered in Milky Way Center | What Is It!?
Ziteng (Andy) Wang is a PhD student at the University of Sydney. He recently discovered an unusual radio signal coming from the direction of the Milky... Read more
TRI BAND TRANSCEIVER – RS-UV3A
The HobbyPCB RS-UV3A radio module is a 144/220/450 MHz FM transceiver board. The RS-UV3A is a low cost transceiver solution for Packet Radio, repeater... Read more
ARRL Continues Its Efforts to Preserve Amateur Radio Secondary Use of the 3 GHz Band
ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, in a written statement on the newly filed H.R.5378 before the US House Commerce Communications and Technology Subc... Read more
![Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hq720-1-190x122.jpg)
Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]
Josh Nass, KI6NAZ, of @Ham Radio Crash Course talks about what ham radio is, and answers the question…. “Why Ham Radio?” Read more
High Speed Telegraphy 2021 in Montenegro
September 10-14, 2021, the 17th World Championship High Speed Telegraphy was held in Montenegro. The event was organized by MARP (Montenegrin Amateur... Read more
Resonant vs Non-Resonant Antennas
Richard, AE6XO, is wondering what the difference is between resonant and non resonant antennas. Why no just get a non resonant and use a tuner? He ask... Read more
Data on Number of Radio Amateurs Worldwide Needs Updating
The oft-cited figure of 3 million radio amateurs worldwide may need updating. That number was what the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) publis... Read more
SHARI Pi HAT – ALLSTAR SA818 Radio Module For Raspberry Pi
Here we take a look at the SHARI PiHatU from Ham Projects. This Pi Hat contains an SA818 Radio module to allow RF to the ALLSTAR network through a ras... Read more
Deaf Pupils Set to Speak with ISS Crew Member in a World-First Event
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will offer a group of pupils at the Mary Hare School for deaf children in England a... Read more
Amateur Radio Volunteers Assist in Major US Cycling Event
On September 11, some 115 amateur radio volunteers from five states provided communication support for LoToJa, the longest single-day USA Cycling (USA... Read more