As a youngster I remember lying on the grass next to the pool at my parent’s house, day-dreaming and listening to the planes overhead. I got so excited
when I heard a plane approaching and I was very happy that our house was in the flight path. However, I’m sure all the neighbors hated the noise.

Being born blind I knew I’d never be able to drive a car but somehow I thought flying might be the way around my transport challenge. I gathered that once
you are in the air there is really nothing in your way and planes only come over the house every 5 to 10 minutes... so right there I had a plan…

The funny thing is that the first time I flew on a plane I was only 18 months old. Mom took me to an eye specialist in Johannesburg to see if they could
do anything to fix my eyes. I cannot remember any of it, however maybe the flight was so exciting that the sensation stuck with me.

During my teenage years I shared my passion for flying with a family friend and he managed to get his hands on a radio that could receive the communications
from the air traffic control tower at the Cape Town International Airport. I spent hours listening to the planes getting clearance to take off and land,
being diverted etc... it was a dream coming true...

Now, 20 years down the line, I’m about to start my flying lessons. My aim is to complete my PPL (Private Pilot's License) by November 2007. You may ask
why on earth would a blind person want a PPL?! Ha-ha, that is the question…

My goal over the next 12 months is to raise 1 Million Pounds in aid of the
Visiontrust
initiative - and in so doing support blind people around the globe to overcome their daily challenges.

But how will I raise the 1 million pounds, you may ask?

I will fly the largest jumbo jet in the world from London to New York to set a number of world records. Yes, a jumbo jet, for we will be selling tickets
to top executives and celebrities around the world to join me on this historic flight. The profit of these tickets will make up the 1 Million Pounds we
will be raising through this event.

I’m looking forward to see you on board of the plane! Should you not be brave enough to physically join us on the day, why not purchase a virtual seat
and help us with this worthy cause..?

Believe me dreams come true, however only if you never stop dreaming.

From next to the pool to the cockpit of a jumbo jet - it may be a big dream, however Walt Disney said “if you can dream it, you can do it”

I’m blind, what is your excuse?

Adapted Equipment:

Note and description below from the software developer re the equipment available and the various outputs in voice that will enable me to fly.

Here's a basic summary of the equipment used and the requirements for your kit and the aircraft. If you need anything else, just let me know.
The whole system is driven by a solid-state PC, with no moving parts at all.

As we found out, laptops, etc break very easily on a bumpy landing!

System Inputs

===========

Detailed here are the system inputs that are not already part of the PC.

(the satellite GPS, compass unit, angle of bank unit, etc, are considered part of the PC unit).

- Power to the system is via a 12v cigarette lighter plug. Aircraft needs a 12v female cigarette lighter socket.

- Control panel - switch box approx 6 inches x 4 inches x 2 inches. Usually attached (with velcro) to leg.

- Airspeed pipe to Pitot tube. Pitot tube to be in airflow externally of aircraft.

- Static air pressure pipe for altimeter. If cabin is not pressureised, then this can just remain inside the cabin.

System Outputs

==============

- Standard 3.5mm female socket for speech output to headphones. Miles had some special headphones made up that had normal airtraffic, etc on left headphone and speech from equipment coming out of right headphone. Volume knobs on each headphone to control speech and airtraffic independently.

When everything is connected and working, you will be able to use the switch box to monitor any combination of:-

Angle of Bank Sounds

Angle of Bank spoken angle

Pitch Sounds

Pitch spoken Angle

Angle of Bank and Pitch Sensivity

Compass

Ground Speed

Altimeter

Track

Bearing to Next Waypoint

Course

Off Course

Turn to Next Waypoint

Distance To Next Waypoint

Distance Made Good

Waypoint Total Distance

E T A

Current time (Clock)

Air Speed

GPS Altitude

Altimeter

Set local pressure up / down

Current Position

Select Waypoint One

Select Waypoint two

Save Current Position to waypoint

Change Mode

Diagnostics