WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Landing in ICT on Monday , a Learjet has accomplished the first ever polar circumnavigation for an aircraft of its type. The journey required a team of four pilots. five days to complete as they traveled from the Southern Polar Region to the Northern.
Despite fatigue, across five continents, and weather delays When the team returned to the same runway where they had taken off, they were greeted like heroes as soon as their wheels touched the ground after being away for two days.
"That rusty old can over there appears to shrink more and more with every passing hour you spend inside," stated Josh Podlich, who was part of the Polar Mission as a pilot.
Departing from Wichita on Thursday, the initial flight plan aimed to bring them back home within three days. However, weather-related delays in Argentina caused setbacks, pushing their arrival from a scheduled Saturday landing to a delayed Monday one.
Captain Bart Gray oversaw the flight as the wheels set down on tarmac after 23,000 miles and 58 hours of flight time.
“We’ve been in the airplane for about two and a half days, so a shower is definitely at the top of the list,” Gray said.
Across the five continents they stopped in, his crew got a bird’s eye view of oceans, mountains and glaciers.
“You cross a waterway, and you approach a landmass and it’s solid ice and snow as far as the eye can see. The uninterrupted mountains and terrains, it’s gorgeous. Untouched by humans,” Podlich said.
Their four-foot-tall, ten-foot-long cabin became a well-oiled machine of work and sleep.
Everybody kind of does their part, and then we’re all just excited to get moving … When you’re in the airplane, you’re either sitting in the cockpit talking to the other guy or sleeping in the back,” Gray said.
Among those awaiting on the tarmac was Pilot Kirby Ezelle’s spouse and child.
"They really surprised me. It turned out wonderfully. I didn’t anticipate seeing both of them, her and my wife; it was delightful, an amazing surprise," Ezelle stated.
They believe their efforts were worthwhile, yet the Learjet team is simply delighted to finally step onto stable land again.
"It stands as proof of the aircraft. It’s evidence of the plane that Bill Lear created," Gray stated.
The Classic Lear Jet Foundation aims for the mission to drive attention and funds to their cause of restoring the first Learjet sold in Wichita to flight conditions.
You can watch a live interview with the Learjet captain below:
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