October proved a spectacular month for pilots making long distance flights. There was a time when flying 100km was the ultimate benchmark in cross country. Then it was 300km. These days you’re unlikely to raise an eyebrow if you’ve done anything less than 500km.
The outright record remains Sebastien Kayrouz’s 610km flight across Texas, which was set in 2021. However, there have been many spectacular flights this season in northeast Brazil. Czech pilot Hugo Hadas flew (almost) 500km on an EN-B. Launching at 7.27am on 13 October from Caraúbas, 18-year-old Hugo flew 498km along the west-north-west route on a Sky Apollo 3.
Flying with him was his father Lukáš on an EN-C Merlin, who was forced to use the third step of his speedbar so they could stay together. “When I surpassed the previous record (425km) I felt such a strong urge to scream with joy – and then...
