Around the world pilot realizing his dream

While Barrington Irving could become the youngest person and first African-American to fly solo around the world, due to weather delays it doesn’t look like he’ll be doing it the fastest.
“Fortunately it was not a speed record around the word,” said his spokesperson, Holly Peppe.
The 23-year-old Miami-based pilot, who spoke recently at York College during a stopover between Cleveland and Canada on his “World Flight Adventure,” had made it as far as Madrid, Spain as of Tuesday, April 10 — four stopovers and thousands of miles short of the day’s planned destination of Mumbai, India.
Despite clear skies in New York, a storm system that passed through St. John’s, the capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador — where Irving was scheduled to land on Tuesday, March 27 — kept Irving’s feet planted on terra firma days longer than expected.
On Tuesday, April 3 Irving wrote on his blog that he had arrived into St. John’s to a wind chill of about five degrees Fahrenheit.
“It is beautiful here with all the snow and ice however I’m ready to continue my flight as soon as the weather provides me an opportunity,” he wrote.
Grounded for another five days, Irving practiced the virtue of patience while waiting out the weather on Easter Sunday. During his layover in the port city he acquired an ear for the local dialect.
“The natives here in Newfoundland, Canada are friendly and their accent has a mix of Irish and British English. It’s a bit difficult to understand at first; however I’ve developed a feel for it over time,” he wrote.
He also did some sightseeing.
“In regards to scenery it is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains are beautiful and the clouds are as low as 300 feet above the ground,” he wrote. “Due to bad weather I’m unable to see the many beauties of St. John’s, however I would love to return during the summer.”
The weather finally broke and Irving touched down the Inspiration — a Columbia 400 single-engine piston airplane made entirely of donated parts - at the Aeropuerto de Madrid Cuatro Vientos at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, April 9.
On his web site Irving cited hopelessness and negative influences in the community where he grew up—including grim statistics on youth as both perpetrators and victims of murder—as his motivation for the trip.
“They can look at me and realize that if I can achieve my dream, they can too,” he said.
On Wednesday, April 11 Irving will move on to Rome, Italy where he’ll take in the sights of the city and visit the Vatican, Peppe said.
“We don’t foresee any other weather delays,” she said.
To track Irving’s flight, read his blog, view photos or make a donation visit www.experienceaviation.org.