Untitled

Press, 25 September 1980, Page 1

Mr Don Taylor with his home-built Thorpe T-18 single-engine aeroplane after arriving at Auckland at the end of a flight from Sydney yesterday. An American, Mr Taylor became the first person to fly a home-built aircraft across the Tasman Sea. ■The flight took just over eight hours, during which air-traffic controllers at Auckland kept

in touch with Mr Taylor. Extra fuel tanks in the passenger seat of the twoseater aircraft made ' the. trip possible. Mr Taylor, who is retired, recently completed a world tour in the small aircraft, which is powered by a 150 h.p. Lycoming engine. He reached Australia from the United States on a Pacific islandhopping flight.

Mr Taylor, aged 66, is a retired lieutenant-colonel in the United States Air Force. He took four years to build the, aeroplane, after leaving the Air Force 15 years ago. In 1973 he flew. it to Japan and in 1976 he flew round the world in just 60 days. He has also flown the plane in the Arctic. But this flight may be

the last for both Mr Taylor and the aeroplane. “A couple of museums want her back home and. I think I will give it away when I get back,” he said. Mr Taylor left the United States in the first week of August and plans to stay in Auckland for a few days before heading back to Sydney and then home. ' ■