Keithair Misquitta, Aarohi Pandit are flying in a tiny single engine, two-seater plane
Keithair Misquitta is on a mission along with Aarohi Pandit to become the first Indian women to circumnavigate the globe in an ultra-light motor glider. She says it is not an easy mission.
Ms Pandit and Ms Misquitta are flying a Light Sport Aircraft from the Tropic to the Arctic -- India to Greenland. Their journey in a tiny single engine, two-seater plane weighing less than 500 kg, over deserts, mountains, plains and oceans, is part of a daring circumnavigation attempt in the world.
Phase 1 of the Colors-WE! Expedition has now been completed and the circumnavigation will resume soon.
Talking about the journey so far, Ms Misquitta told IANS: "It was incredible. We had a chance to fly to places no one has ever been to, met so many kind and wonderful people. The journey wasn't always easy, but we had the experience of a lifetime."
What are the lessons they stumbled upon?
"The most important lessons were to keep going, and wait for your turn. The weather may not always be supportive, but if you are patient enough you will find a way out," Ms Misquitta said.
Ms Pandit, 22, and Ms Misquitta 24, set course westward on July 30 from Patiala, flying a Pipistrel Sinus 912 aircraft across Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat stopping in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany, France, UK, Iceland and Greenland and overflying Croatia, Bulgaria and Austria.
Ms Misquitta says the challenges have revolved around the weather and unfamiliar terrain.
"We had to be extra prepared since this was the first time either of us had flown like this. We spoke to other pilots at airports, looked through various apps to anticipate the terrain and weather, and did as much studying and research as we could rather than be at the mercy of the forecasts which can change really fast."