AN epic adventure, an aviation challenge, youth inspiration, promoting and supporting innovation, technology and entrepreneurship are all the key drivers combined for Africa’s development and transformation as twenty South African teenagers embark on a Cape – Cairo and back excursion in a self-assembled Sling-4 aircraft that uses ordinary motor fuel and was built in three weeks!
The excursion, earmarked to start in June 2019, will see different teams of the twenty teenagers pilot and charter a course that will cut across several African cities and towns spreading the key messages of an African narrative that started as a dream.
Teen pilot, author and motivational speaker Megan Werner, sparked by her passion to inspire, founded U Dream Global Foundation to uplift, empower, equip and transform the lives of thousands of youth throughout Africa and the world by dreaming and achieving the impossible as well as succeeding beyond expectations.
“The Challenge has an enabled us to take a lot of teenagers from different backgrounds to teach and equip them with life skills that they can take with them into the future,” says Megan. “Throughout Africa, we are hoping to do similar impacting thousands of lives of the youth that are the future of the continent.”
Following final inspections and flight certifications, Megan and various teen co-pilots are now set to fly the light aircraft from Cape Town to Cairo and back from June 2019 charting a course across Africa to visit towns and cities in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea to Egypt and a return trip that will include Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia.
Voluntary support for logistical aspects of the flight is being provided by CFS, ExecuJet, Worldfuel and Mike Blyth, founder of The Airplane Factory – the enterprise that designed and built the original Sling plane series. The prototype of the Sling 4 was chosen because this type has already been flown twice around the world.
Using specially modified, self-made drones, the Challenge will be documented on video as some of the teenagers fly alongside adult supervisors who will use a second Sling-4 aircraft for support to monitor proceedings. Six teenage pilots will take turns to fly the self-assembled plane as the Challenge moves from country to country.
For logistics and different needs for the Challenge, different partnerships and sponsorship elements are being sort for fuel, accommodation, crew support, commercial flights, branding and documentation.
Interested parties with enquiries and sponsorship interest can contact Simon Manda on +27614075200 or email: simon@mass-media.co.za