Biologist Aims for ‘Greenest’ Around-the-World Flight

January 31, 2012 — He’s already set an unofficial world speed record for flying around the world eastbound. But that’s not stopping Matevz Lenarcic, a biologist and photographer, from doing an around-the-world flight again, this time westerly and in hopes of burning the smallest amount of fuel per distance flown. On January 7, Lenarcic departed Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in a 640-pound Pipistrel Virus-SW 914 and expects to fly to Morocco, Senegal, across the Atlantic, up and down the coasts of South America, over the Antarctic, and across the Pacific to New Zealand, Australia, southeast Asia and back to Africa. His 10-week journey will take him across the equator six times, and over 50 countries, seven continents, 120 national parks, and three oceans. He will also fly over the five tallest peaks of the continents, including Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, at altitudes where the temperature will fall below -50°C, or -58°F. As of Monday, he was in Argentina heading for Brazil. Click here to see where he is now. Lenarcic’s Green Light World Flight project aims to prove that it is possible to make such a flight differently – with lower fuel consumption and less pollution. In addition, all those involved in the project will be able to show how light aircraft can be used to collect significant scientific climate data, as the aircraft will be carrying a device developed by the Aerosol company which measures the concentration of atmospheric aerosol - black dust in the air - which has not been done before. The results will contribute to understanding the greenhouse effect. The Jožef Stefan Institute is also involved in the project, studying the effects of extreme temperature and hypoxic environment on the body.

Matevz Lenarcic began his around-the-world trip on January 8 in Slovenia. This is his second RTW flight, but this time he hopes to set a record for burning the smallest amount of fuel per distance flown. Matevz Lenarcic takes photos of scenery from his plane.

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