Dhe idea for this adventure was years ago, this year is the right time for the trip to the old country. 4500 miles, or around 7240 kilometers to be overcome.From Montgomery in Orange County (one and a half hours from New York City) through Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Great Britain it is to go in the Lungau and the destination airport Mauterndorf. The flight time is 40 hours. Maximilian Lassacher has always been enthusiastic about the fly. The now 55- year-old worked in 1989 for a year in London. Nearby was a flying club, which he often visited with a friend. "There I saw one day an airplane with a big tank. I started a conversation with the pilot. He told me he has flown from the US to London," says the father of two. "I want it too," he decided at that time.
Two years later it drove him work because of St. Michael in the United States, specifically to New York. In America in 1999, he fulfilled a dream - he built his own plane to plans, which he had bought in Canada. Three years and two months it took until the plane was ready. It consists mainly of pine wood. "Each board had to be first once tested, it may not have a branch, and in no case break," says Lassacher.The wings are covered with a special cloth, the nose of aluminum. The engine comes from a Mazda RX 7 and was adopted by the Lungau itself. Then took place in May 2002, the first flight, followed by many tours.
12,500 feet over Greenland
For two months, he is intensively preparing for the trip to Europe. He was daily with his machine. So who has 55- year-old about yet installed additional tanks. Instead of the original 159 liters these now hold 246 liters. "Place for a little something robe and socks I just" laughs Lassacher who else can take up to three passengers. By the end of the month, the pilot will have done all the work in his carpentry. The start of the trip is planned on September 1. "But that all depends on the weather. If it is beautiful, I fly off. Does not fit the weather, I'll wait." The demanding route is that from Canada to Greenland or the flight is over the glaciers of the largest island in the world. Here Lassacher must climb to 12,500 feet, it needs a cloudless sky. His friends in Lungau rejoice anyway already on the arrival of Maximilian Lassacher and received him there befitting.