A blind pilot has completed the first leg of his bid to become the first visually impaired person to fly around the UK.

Steve Cunningham, 41, of Winchester Close, Banbury, left Biggin Hill airfield south of London on July 12 on a five-day trip which will take him to Newcastle, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff.

About four hours later he touched down at Newcastle International Airport, having made an impromptu 30-minute stop in Sheffield to check computer software and refuel.

The plane Mr Cunningham is using has a voice activated interface, which converts all the data a pilot would see on the control panel into speech.

Every two seconds Mr Cunningham is told what the plane is doing. He also gets voice messages as to how high it is flying, and how far to the destination airport. He uses that information to fly the plane.

The four-seater Piper Warrior light aircraft is using special software from the United States during the challenge. Throughout the flight Mr Cunningham is being accompanied by his co-pilot Vincent Coultan.

He said: "It's going very well considering I have never flown in commercial traffic.

"Over London the cloud was low and visibility was not the best -- but it was still better than mine.

"Vince and I are working well together and taking each day as it comes.

"We are very focused and it's a great project, although it's not the easiest thing in the world to fly an aircraft when you can't see."

The two men will leave Newcastle for Glasgow on the second leg. The adventure is scheduled to finish on Friday.

Mr Cunningham has already secured records as the world's fastest blind man on land and water.

He has been blind since the age of 12 and says that he hopes to inspire others through his adventurous lifestyle.