Pilots fly out of Kelowna on trip around the Americas for charity

There’s a lot of groundwork to be done to ensure smooth flying for pilots who embarked Tuesday from Kelowna on a trip around the coasts of North and South America.

Pilots representing Hope Air, which provides free flights to medical care for financially challenged Canadians, will cover 32,187 kilometres as they try to raise $500,000 for the charity.

That amount would fund more than 2,000 free medical flights, Hope Air says.

The first leg of the double-continent flying odyssey was from Kelowna to San Diego, Calif. From there, it’s south to Mexico, Central America and South America, all the way down to Ushuaia, Argentina, regarded as the most southerly city in the world.

Pilots then head north via the eastern coast of South America, and expect to arrive back in Canada in March. Landings and takeoffs will occur in 20 countries, an itinerary that requires a dizzying array of advance paperwork.

“Every country that we fly over, or land in, requires some kind of pre-authorization,” flight commander Dave McElroy wrote in a Hope Air newsletter last month.

“Some are as simple as an email a day ahead of time, while others require many hundreds of dollars and a copy of almost every piece of documentation known to mankind,” he wrote.

The advance planning was so onerous that Hope Air enlisted the services of a U.K.-based company, White Rose Aviation, to help with securing the necessary approvals.

The plan is for two airplanes, with a total crew of 11 people, to make the three-month trip.

Hope Air typically provides free passage from Canadians in rural or small communities to access medical care in larger cities. To donate, see givehopewings.ca.