"At 15 years and 10 months of age, Byron Waller can't order a pint and has never driven a car, but on Wednesday afternoon he landed his small plane at an airport in Brighton, on England's south coast. It was the 16th or so stop (he can't quite remember) of a remarkable airborne odyssey that he hopes will make him the youngest supported pilot to fly around the world."
"Very unwell almost from birth, he spent his childhood in and out of hospital sometimes it was weekly, sometimes it was daily, sometimes it was monthly before finally being diagnosed with the bowel condition Crohn's disease aged 14. It took a big toll on my life, he said. I missed birthday parties, missed school, missed, like, just normal school sports and all that sort of stuff."
Byron Waller, aged 15 years and 10 months, is piloting a single-engined Sling TSi on a supported attempt to become the youngest person to fly around the world. The journey began in Brisbane four weeks earlier and has crossed the Indian Ocean and the Middle East into Europe, with roughly 16 stops so far and plans to continue the circumnavigation back to Australia. An instructor accompanies him, but Byron performs the flying for most legs, including a 10-hour stretch from Singapore to Sri Lanka. His interest in flying began at age four during a Scouts activity. He spent much of his childhood repeatedly in hospital before a Crohn's disease diagnosis at 14, which caused him to miss normal school activities and events.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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