Colin Bodill (born 1952) is an adventurer and

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

from

Nottingham, England Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace-maki ...

. Colin has won the UK microlight championships several times and became the World Champion in 1995. In 1998 he set a new World Speed Record for flying an open-cockpit aircraft from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 2000 Bodill along with British helicopter pilot

Jennifer Murray Jennifer Murray (née Mather; born June 1940 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a pilot. In 2000 she circumnavigated the globe in a Robinson R44 helicopter, travelling in 97 days, earning her the Guinness World Record for the first helicopter circumn ...

formed the NOW Challenge - a microlight versus helicopter race around the globe in support of the charity Operation Smile. The flight was sponsored by NOW (Network of the World) and Tommy Hilfiger. Colin became the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo in a weight-shift microlight (a Mainair Blade 912). It was on this flight that he had his first helicopter lesson and went on to set another world record from London to Sydney in a helicopter (2001). In October 2021 both he and Jennifer launched a new record attempt, to be the first to fly a helicopter around the world from Pole to Pole in support of the WWF. On 20 December, only 58 days into their journey and two days after reaching the South Pole, they crashed in whiteout conditions. Both Colin and Jennifer were seriously injured. They attempted the mission again in 2007, reaching the South Pole on 7 January 2007. Bodill is a BMAA test pilot and inspector, microlight instructor and a CAA Examiner.

Awards

*2001

Britannia Trophy The Britannia Trophy is a British award presented by the Royal Aero Club for aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in aviation during the previous year. In 1911 Horatio Barber, who was a founder member of the Royal Aero Club, wa ...

– The Royal Aero Club's highest award *1998 Air League Award *1998 Colibri Diamond Award *2000 Colibri Diamond Award

References

External links

operation smile

Polar first challenge
1952 births Living people People from Nottingham Britannia Trophy winners British aviation record holders {{aviation-bio-stub