Round-the-world gyrocopter attempt falters in face of Russian bureaucracy

Norman Surplus, 48, from Northern Ireland, fears the long wait for permission to fly to Vladivostok may ruin his plans See our interactive map of the route He has flown 13,000 miles across 18 countries, passing over sandstorms and forest fires and surviving a crash landing that left him upside down in a lake. But now it seems a Northern Irish man’s attempt to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a gyrocopter may be foiled by an even greater obstacle: Russian bureaucracy. Norman Surplus, 48, set out from a playing field in his home town of Larne in March last year expecting his journey across Europe, north Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America to take about four months. Those plans went awry, however, when his open-cockpit craft veered into a lake shortly after takeoff in Thailand. Two mechanics had to be sent from the UK for repairs and it was three months before the Briton was off again. He then got stuck in the Philippines for 11 months waiting for a permit to fly across Japan. Surplus took up his journey once more this summer and arrived in Tsruoaka on the west coast of Japan six weeks ago. He applied to Russian authorities for permission to fly the 530 miles to Vladivostok after having received a preliminary green light from Moscow last year, but has received no reply. “It’s extremely frustrating,” he said in a telephone interview from his hotel room. “The winter is approaching fast and there’s not much wiggle room. If I don’t get the go-ahead in the next few days then it will be too late.” He added: “It seems we have been referred for approvals from one department to another, to another, all of whom appear to start the whole procedure again from scratch each time.” Surplus, who runs his own wind turbine repair company, said he had requested to fly from Vladivostok up Russia’s Pacific coastline to the Arctic region of Chukotka and then across the Bering Strait to Alaska. Fuel dumps have already been prepared along the route. Aleksandr Lameko, a Russian pilot who is helping Surplus negotiate with Russian authorities, said he feared the Briton’s request would be refused altogether. Despite an initial indication that all would be fine, aviation authorities have passed the application to the ministry of defence and the federal security service (FSB). “The FSB called me and gave the impression they didn’t want to help,” said Lameko. “I told them it would be a great shame if the expedition was ended by Russia after 18 countries. “I said to them: ‘This is the 21st century and you don’t need to look for spies in every corner.’ They just started saying it was a restricted zone, and what if he falls in the taiga. I’m afraid the answer will probably be a resolute no, unless some high-up official sees this will be bad PR for Russia and decides to step in.” Surplus cannot fly directly to Alaska from Japan because the gyrocopter – a low altitude rotorcraft – has a maximum range of 600 miles. The trip has not been without its difficulties. After plunging into the lake in Thailand he was briefly trapped, “as if in a capsized canoe. My first thought underwater was, ‘Oh, you pillock,’ and only then did I think how to get out,” he said. In Saudi Arabia, Surplus got caught between two storms and had to land at an isolated petrol station in the desert. Two pump attendants and a camel watched dumbstruck as he taxied up the slip road. The gyrocopter runs on ordinary unleaded petrol so he was able to fill up. Most dramatic was flying over forest fires on the border between Thailand and Burma. “The flames were licking up the trees below,” he recalled. “I could smell smoke and leaf litter was fluttering up around me.” Russia Northern Ireland Europe Tom Parfitt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.