A thrill-seeking father-of-two from Fife is flying a tiny single-engine helicopter from the north of Norway to South Africa for charity.
Zambia-born Charles Stewart (45), who settled in Lochgelly with his wife and daughters nine years ago, has named the 6000-mile trip Three Capes Heli Challenge because he will travel from Cape Nord in Norway to Cape Wrath in the north of Scotland, before flying to Cape Town.
The route will take the former Red Cross aid worker over some of Africa’s most unstable regions.
He said: ”We should get it done in a month if we don’t get shot down first. A lot of the countries we’re flying over have instability issues. We’re actually avoiding South Sudan for that reason. If we go down anywhere dangerous it’ll be a bit of a nightmare.
”Although neither unique nor particularly pioneering, flying a single-engine helicopter from Norway to the UK and then on to South Africa should be regarded as seriously challenging and a bit risky if not crazy.”
The bright red Robinson R44 can hold enough fuel to cover 500 nautical miles so Charles and his co-pilots will have to make carefully-planned stops.
”There’s a huge amount of preparation work gone into it,” he explained. ”Locations, positions, fuel drops they all have to be arranged. It’s a big logistical undertaking.
”My wife has really been the organisational driving force behind it. She’s put it all together. She’s an absolute star.”
Kathy Stewart admitted to having reservations about the idea but was won over by her husband’s enthusiasm.
She said: ”He wanted to do it on a motorbike at first, so I’m actually quite pleased he’s not doing that now, because it would have been very dangerous. It’s probably better that he’s in the air.
”He’s an adventurer. That’s what he’s about. It’s scary but we support him.”
Charles was brought up on a farm and, after leaving school, worked as a marine mechanic before embarking on a new career running safari operations in Zimbabwe and Zambia. He also worked with the Red Cross, moving food aid in during the Mozambican Civil War.
Charles added: ”The family is used to my escapades I took the kids camping at the east Congolese border last year. I want to teach them that the world is not a big place. I want to emphasise that anybody can do something like this.”
Charles, who now builds timber frame structures for the housing market, is covering the costs of the carefully-planned adventure, along with co-pilots Charles McCann, who works in financial services, and Brian Johnston, an engineering consultant.
All three are amateur pilots but can boast 2,500 hours of flying time between them.
They aim to raise £100,000 for international development charities Mission Aviation Fellowship and Motivation.
To donate or find out more, visit www.3capeshelichallenge.com