5:28pm Thursday 16th July 2009
By Emily Allen
IS IT a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Flyke.
People the length and breadth of Britain have been warned to expect an unusual sighting in the sky as an Oxfordshire teacher attempts to travel from Land’s End to John O’Groats – on a flying bike.
John Carver, of Cothill House School, near Abingdon, bought his German-made Flyke off the Internet two years ago and now plans to fly the length of Britain in the machine.
A cross between a tricycle and a plane, the machine is powered by a two-stroke twin propeller motor with a paraglider canopy attached and can reach speeds of up to 30mph.
Mr Carver, 37, who will take off from Land’s End on August 1, aims to reach John O’Groats — almost 800 miles away — in three weeks.
Mr Carver, who is a diabetic, hopes to raise £10,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
He said: “I love flying in aeroplanes and I wanted something I could keep in a trailer and that was also fun and exciting.
“This ticked all the boxes.
“It’s basically a bicycle and you can fly it. You can still use it as a normal bicycle.”
The challenge is the first time anyone has ever attempted the fundraising marathon on a Flyke.
Mr Carver said: “It’s the best way to fly because it’s so simple, you can see everything around you. You are totally at one with the sky. It’s that freedom that is quite special.
“I’m nervous because there are two things you can’t control, the weather and the reliability; if something breaks I can’t fix it very easily.”
The £8,000 single-seater flying tricycle, which can climb to 7,500 feet, must land every two hours near roadside petrol stations for refuelling.
Mr Carver said: “When you wheel it into a petrol station and you tell them that it flies they don’t believe you. It provokes an extraordinary reaction in some people. It won’t be going at the hurtling speed of an RAF plane and if the engine cuts out you can just glide in.”
The 37-year-old French and IT teacher added: “I have to try and keep this hobby from my mother.”
allen@oxfordmail.co.uk To sponsor Mr Carver visit justgiving.com/flybike
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