All the equipment, engines, paragliders, oxygen, fuel, tools, spare parts, parachutes and lots, lots more has now arrived in Kathmandu and I've checked through everything. There's nearly 2 tonnes of it and not one bit is missing or broken which is a miracle. When I packed it all up last week into massive crates I could hardly believe it would actually arive here in time...let alone in one peice, its next stop is Dingboche, 15,000ft up in the Khumbu valley towards Everest. It's being flown in most of the way by a massive M17 Russian helicopter and from there it will be carried by yaks up to our base camp.

This is an incredibly exciting time for Mission Everest and such a massive relief that we have managed to finish and test both Bear's engine and mine in time. I flew the Everest Parajet to 20,000ft over the Dorset countryside last week, just before it was boxed up to be sent out here to Kathmandu. Approaching 20,000ft I was still climbing at 500 feet per minute on half throttle and I felt as warm as toast with the down suit and lots of chemical heat pads in my gloves!!! Had it not been for the scary weather conditions up there I would have gone up another six or seven thousand feet as I still had plenty of fuel on board. However, there were thousands of tiny ice crystals flying into my face from the massive clouds I was flying into and it was getting quite bumpy!!! I landed more than 50 miles away from where I took off as the wind was so strong up there! When we fly above Everest, we're going to make doubly sure that the winds aren't nearly so strong...or this means trouble!!!

I've not had time to write an update for the last 3 months as practically every waking moment I've had I've been working on making and testing the engines, it's definately been the most complicated engine project I've ever undertaken...it started 6 months ago now in October 2006. Whilst we all knew from the outset this was an incredibly short amount of time in which to design, make, test and fly 2 totally new high altitude, ridiculously aero engines (let alone lal the other stuff involved). I had no idea that there would be so many obstacles thrown in along the way. The list of problems etc that we've experienced is incredibly boring for most people...but for those of you who maybe interested in the engineering aspect, I'm creating a section on this website that will document photographically much of the development process of these engines, I think it will be worth taking a look as it's been a seriously exciting if at times very frustrating project!! The final details of these powerful Everest engines are as follows. 

The finished Everest engine is a 254cc four stroke single rotor, supercharged, intercooled and liquid cooled rotary engine. It's run by a barometrically compensating computer controlled fuel injection system so it knows exactly what to do at high altitude. One of the really great things about this new engine is that it runs 100% vibration free so its amazingly comfortable to fly!! You hardly even know you're wearing it!! For those interested here are a few details, and there's lots more info and photos to follow on the web pages that are being created now.

Engine and Parajet Spec:

Total engine weight: 19kg.
Power Out Put: 90hp.
Static Thrust: 140kg
All up Parajet Weight: 38kg (not inc 20 litre fuel capacity)

The next update will be from our base camp where we'll be unpacking all the kit, re-assembling the engines and taking our first test flights, taking off at 16,000ft which has never been done before!!! This adventure is becoming evermore exciting and scary as the reality of flying over this massive mountain range in a little harness draws nearer. Please pray for our safety first and of course a successful Mission!