The takeoff of The Flight for the Human Spirit is on a “weather hold” status until at least Thursday morning, according to Mission Control for the flight. “We’ve looked at the weather from every angle,” said pilot Michael Combs, “but you don’t have to look very far to know that it is too windy to fly.”
The flight, designed to inspire people to pursue their dreams, was supposed to takeoff April 5 from Salina Municipal Airport (SLN) in Kansas, but that afternoon winds were blowing from a southwesterly direction at 20–28 knots with higher winds forecasted for Tuesday. Wednesday morning called for a chance of “wintery mix” conditions in the area between Salina and the destination of Columbia, Mo., for Flight Day #1.
His Remos GX Light Sport Aircraft did get up into the Kansas sky briefly Monday morning as Michael and his son Dan flew the aircraft once around the airport traffic pattern to verify that some newly installed systems were functional. By the time that they touched down, the winds had already begun to strengthen, forcing them to make only one test flight.
“We had a high fuel pressure alarm go off right after we left the ground,” Combs said, “but as soon as we reached pattern altitude it went off. We were also testing a new camera system that will document every moment of the flight, but for some reason it didn’t record. We’ll use these extra few days to iron out some of the details.”
The Flight for the Human Spirit will fly into all 50 states and stop into 135 cities and towns across America. The total distance will cover more than 19,400 miles in 40 flight days.
For more information: FlightHS.com
