Two Prepare for

'Spirit of Pakistan' Journey

Jon Tkach

Islamabad

21 Jun 2001 09:20 UTC

Two Pakistani 1)pilots are preparing what they hope will be a 37,000 kilometer journey around the world in an 2)ultralight plane. They are calling their trip the "Spirit of Pakistan," hoping it will raise some money for 3)charity and spread 4)goodwill to the more than twenty countries they will be visiting along the way.

This noisy, but relatively tiny little engine, will be the main thing pilots Zaka Ullah Bhangoo and Ajab Khan will be hearing for nearly three months as they attempt to circle the globe. They will be crammed into an airplane not much bigger than a 5)bathtub. The body of the aircraft is about three meters long, surrounding two 6)slim 7)vcockpits that leave the pilots only centimeters of 8)wiggle room. The engine and propeller sit behind the 9)rear cockpit, and the plane's slim tail stretches out behind. In this little plane, the pilots will be literally 10)hopping around the globe.

They have more than forty scheduled stops along the way, where they are planning to meet some locals, especially local Pakistanis. Retired military pilot Zaka Ullah Bhangoo says they aim to be 11)roving 12)ambassadors of their country. "We are die-hard Pakistanis, Spirit of Pakistan, and wherever we go we will represent Pakistan and we hope we do it well," he says.

But the main reason for the stops will be to refuel, their ultralight only has a range of about 900 kilometers. Mr. Bhangoo says weight will be a huge concern. "This aircraft is so light and we can carry so little that on two of the legs I don't think we can even carry our 13)toothbrush with us," he says.

He even says he and his co-pilot, Ajab Khan, are currently on diets in a bid to slim down. Each kilogram they lose, he says, means another seven minutes of extra flying time.

Mr. Khan says they will be happy they lost those kilos right away as they attempt a first ever trip in a ultralight over the massive mountains that line Pakistan's northern border with China. "We cross over the Khunjerab Pass along the Karakuram highway and this should be the highest crossing ever by an ultralight aircraft," he says. "We will be using oxygen for that because we expect to clear it at about 18,000 feet."

From there, they head east through northern China and then into the eastern reaches of Russian Siberia. But first they say they might 14)encounter difficulties of the 15)bureaucratic kind.

The problem is they still have not gotten 16)clearance from the Russian government to pass through and they say they might have to wait a while along the 17)border for the nod from Moscow.

After Siberia, the two head over the Bering Straits and Alaska, down over Canada and across the U.S. mainland. They then pass over Greenland, Iceland and down into Europe. Finally, the last legs take them through vast 18)stretches of the Muslim world, along the northern edge of Africa and finally through the Arab Peninsula and back into Pakistan.

But before Mr. Banghoo and Mr. Khan head out to circle the globe, they will spend a couple of weeks circling their own country to 19)rally support for the "Spirit of Pakistan."

They are hoping to line up more sponsors and they have pledged to give all the 20)proceeds from their trip to children's charities. The two men aim take off on their round-the-world journey in mid-July. And if all goes right, they will be flying back into Islamabad, from the opposite direction, of course, in late October.

(1)       pilot[5paIlEt]n.飞行员, 领航员

(2)       ultralight[9QltrE`laIt, `QltrElaIt]adj.超轻型的

(3)       charity[`tFArEtI]n.慈善, 施舍, 慈善团体,

(4)       goodwill[^Jd5wIl]n.善意, 亲切

(5)       bathtub[`bB:WtQb]n.浴缸, 澡盆

(6)       slim[slIm]adj.苗条的, 纤细的

(7)       cockpit[5kRkpIt]n.驾驶员座舱, 战场

(8)       wiggle[5wI^(E)l]v.(使)踌躇, 摆动n.踌躇, 摆动

(9)       rear[rIE(r)]n.后面,后方, 屁股adj.后面的, 背面的

(10)       hop[hRp]v.单脚跳, (鸟, 蛙等)跳跃

(11)       rove[rEJv]v.漫游, 流浪, 转来转去n.漫游, 流浪, 粗纱

(12)       ambassador[Am5bAsEdE(r)]n.大使

(13)       toothbrush[5tu:WbrQF]n.牙刷

(14)       encounter[In5kaJntE(r)]v.遭遇, 遇到n.遭遇, 遭遇战

(15)       bureaucratic[9bjJErEJ`krAtIk]adj.官僚政治的

(16)       clearance[5klIErEns]n.清除

(17)       border[5bC:dE(r)]n.边界, 国界, 边境v.接壤

(18)       stretch[stretF]v.伸展, 伸长n.一段路程, 伸展

(19)       rally[5rAlI]v.重整旗鼓, 给予新力量, 力量, 决心, 集结n.集会

(20)       proceeds[5prEJsi:dz]n. pl.收益