Mack's news feed

MackSolo Team Update – Day 60 🌍✈️

Wooooohoooooo Mack has just made an 8 hour long - 6 hour over the sea - flight and landed in #Antananarivo, #Madagascar 🇲🇬

A #flight over the sea 🌊 is potentially always riskier, as there are no options to divert and land in case of an issue. Mack felt comfortable with this flight considering the capabilities of the Shark 🦈 and its recent maintenance, but also the additional Turtle Pac fuel bladder, his experience, and the fact these waters are relatively warm.

How are risks being mitigated? Well, experienced pilots 👨‍✈️🧑‍✈️ are advising Mack at all times. He has an Iridium Communications satellite system via YB Tracking which allows him to be in communications at all times with the Flight Ops team. In fact, that is exactly what is happening during every single flight. Someone on the Flight Ops team tracks every flight, for the whole flight. The reason why the Flight Ops team based out of Europe are virtually living in a different time zone than their close friends and family.

Mack exchanges multiple messages with them regularly during flights about the weather 🌧, heading, potentially unexpected events, etc.

Additionally, if anything were to go wrong, Mack is aware he has a #parachute 🪂 he can pull which would make for a soft, cockpit-up landing on the waters. He also has an onboard life-raft 🛶 and there are busy shipping routes 🚢 with vessels that could be contacted in case of an emergency. Find them here: https://www.vesselfinder.com/

Last but not least, if Mack were not happy to take off for whatever reason, he can and will postpone or delay, as he is under no time pressure. He has not reached his 17th birthday and more than a year and a half separates him from the age the current record holder, Travis Ludlow, had when breaking the record. Mack will take his time as needed. Safety first. 🙏🤞

#Macksolo #youngstersmakeadifference #africa# #aviation #grit #stamina #courage #pilot