Cothill teacher to fly from Land's End to John O'Groats in a flying tricycle (From Oxford Mail)

Cothill teacher to fly from Land's End to John O'Groats in a flying tricycle

2:39pm Thursday 16th July 2009 in Search 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 Abingdon teacher attempts to travel from Land’s End to John O’Groats . . . on a flying bike.

John Carver, who works and lives at Cothill House School, Cothill, bought his German-made Flyke on the Internet two years ago and plans to fly the length of Britain in the machine.

A cross between a tricycle and a plane, the gadget 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, plans to reach John O’Groats — almost 800 miles away — in three weeks.

By completing the challenge, Mr Carver, who is a diabetic, hopes to raise £10,000 to help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

He said: “I love flying on aeroplanes and I wanted something I could keep in a trailer, and something that was also fun and exciting.

“This ticked all the boxes. I found it on the Internet when I was looking for extreme flying machines and different types of microlight.

“It’s basically a bicycle and you can fly it. It’s actually a trike, because it has three wheels. You can still use it as a normal bicycle.”

The challenge is the first time anyone has ever attempted the popular fundraising route on a Flyke.

Mr Carver said: “It’s the best way to fly because it’s so simple. It’s like you are sitting in bed: 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.

“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.”

The £8,000 single-seater flying tricycle, which can climb to 7,500 feet, must land every two hours for refuelling.

The 37-year-old French and IT teacher, who said he would cruise at about 500 feet, said it was possible to use pedal power to keep the machine airbound if the engine cut out.

He said: “I have to try to keep this hobby from my mother.

“It won’t be going at the hurtling speed of an RAF plane and if the engine cuts out, you can just glide in.”