Lithuanian Pilots Set to Embark on Historic Glider Flight Across Europe to Portugal

On Friday, three Lithuanian pilots will start a glider flight from Lithuania across Europe to Portugal.

Such a long route has not been flown by any Lithuanian or European non-motorized glider pilot, thus it is the longest glider flight to a specific destination in the history of aviation in Europe.

Algirds Šimołūns, Sakals Uždavinis and Igns Bitinaitis plan to fly non-stop around 400 kilometers per day at an average speed of 90-130 kilometers per hour. The adventurers plan to fly 4,000 kilometers to the Atlantic Ocean in ten days.

The pilots started preparing for the flight in winter. As the flight route is largely dependent on the weather, pilots have contacted 40 airfields in Poland, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal about the possible crash.

The pilots will be supported by a team that will follow the pilots on land in three cars.

The glider flight marks the 90th anniversary of the legendary flight across the Atlantic Ocean by Lithuanian pilots Stepona Darjus and Staš Giren in the 1930s.

On July 15, 1933, Darjus and Giren left New York on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Kaunas. The pilots successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean and a large part of Europe, but for reasons still unknown, on July 17, their plane crashed during a storm on the territory of Germany (now Poland), only about 650 kilometers from Kaunas.

Although both Lithuanian pilots died, they broke the record for the longest flight without landing at the time.

2023-08-11 20:12:34
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