For more information or to get listed here, please email:
mpr[at]wst.nu

Friday, April 04, 2008, Jean Bergeron of Canada joined the pilots with his Swift Trike. Welcome Jean!

March 22, 2008, Carlos Torres-Fletcher, from Atlanta, GA, signed up with his ALON, A2. Carlos is member of AOPA Welcome Carlos!

March 20, 2007, Marco Alberti and his navigator, Alberti Riccardo, from Italy signed up ! Marco is member of AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), USA, and FIVU.

March 8, 2007, Carlos Fletcher from Atlanta, Georgia, USA, expressed interest to enter several aircraft, including an Avid Catalina and a Beechcraft follow plane, and assist in promoting the Marco Polo Rally in the media. Thanks Carlos! 

January 16, 2007, Vinitha Mariappa, from Bangalore, India, singed up. Welcome !

November 23, 2006, Siegfried Lanitz, from Germany signed up. Welcome !

Wednesday, October 12, 2005: Sergio Salgaro and his navigator Giulio Cherubini from Italy joined the team. Sergio´s race experience includes a round Italy and Europe flight. www.aviofly.it

Sunday June 26, 2005, Angus Horwood, from Western Australia signed up. Angus is member of the Western Microlight Club.

Monday June 20, 2005, Mark Polansky, USA, has 725 on the clock, flown a Florida to New Jersey race, and is a former AOPA member. "I am a certified flight instructor in the USA, haven't flown for 6 years. Am still willing to take time off for one last great adventure, if I can get a sponsor. How about London to Tokyo??"

Raphaël TREUILLAUD of Geneva and his co-pilot / air support Alain RUCKSTUHL of Andilly, France, have signed up on Tuesday June 07, 2005, at 08:54:09 PM, as the 149th and 150th pilots of the Marco Polo Rally. They will be flying a Pagotto / DTA. Members of FFPLUM, their long-distance experience includes 4 flights to Morocco and Rumania.

These registrations bring us to the "critical mass" of 150 signed-up pilots which finally gives us a platform for making the Marco Polo Rally a successful historical event. Now that the groundwork is laid, we expect that the momentum toward reaching our destination Beijing will pick up exponentially.

Since the personal schedules and plans of some pilots are expected to have changed since the inception of the Marco Polo Rally, I kindly ask everyone to please confirm and / or update your contact details, availability, and aircraft specs as soon as possible!: Please re-submit your registration here, if wish to cancel. Thank you! >>>

The entire organization has been privately funded to date. However, with growing functions and responsibilities, this will not be sustainable in the medium and long term. I thus personally appeal for your assistance. Please help us at least finance this site by donating to the cause at donate.

I also strongly encourage you to purchase Marco Polo Rally Gear. These useful, high-quality products feature the unique work of art by Mike Jansen of Tonic Design, South Africa. We offer practical day-to-day items with his rendition of Daedalus  and the dawn of human flight, one that reflects the spirit of Marco Polo and of East meeting West along the historical Silk Road, plus the upcoming Games of Ultralight! Please note that these goods can only be purchased online at Marco Polo Rally Gear are not available anywhere else. Get your Marco Polo Rally Gear now! and help promote the Marco Polo Rally at this important juncture of the organization.

Last and definitely not least, allow me to thank all the volunteers for their small and large contributions that have brought us to this amazing "first leg" of the race. I thank you for you continued support !

Roger Krieger

Would you like to help us spread the word about the Marco Polo Rally? We have prepared a small flyer for the aviation community, which depicts our official logo! Simply chose the version: color or black & white, and click the print button on your browser.

Voila! May we suggest to post it to the blackboard of your local airport and flying club? Thank you!

If you would like to provide professional services to the Marco Polo Rally, please send us your rates and a brief description of your background what you can do > Request for Proposal

January 4, 2004: Welcome Prof. Raffaello Trigila and Massimo Cuculo, both from Italy. They are members of the Artena Aeroclub

See "Org Structure" for Details >>

January 15, 2005: Belgium.  Sam Rutherford joined the organizers. Sam was an officer in the British army, flying helicopters, for over 8 years. He organized and lead the London to Sydney Overland Expedition (www.lsoexped.com).

December 25, 2003, Christophe Marcoux, France, joined the pilots

December 21, 2003, Lebanon, Oussama Rawdah, President of the Cosmos Aviation Club, joined the organizers and will help with the organization through the Middle East and Gulf corridor. Also see Race Operations.

November 26, 2003: Jan Grotepass from the Western Cape in South Africa has signed up. Jan is member of the Western Cape Microlight Club.

November 19, 2003: David Merriman, CA, USA, volunteers as co-pilot unless the event is postponed until 06. If you are seeking a co-pilot, please contact him in our Project Forum.

October 17, 2003: Italy. Mario Giardini, has been planning long range UL flights across Europe. The last one was during 2002, Rome - Granada round trip, 3000 Miles. Italian, UL pilot with approx 1000 Hs flight experience, Corporate Vice President of a TELCO.

September 9, 2003: South Africa: Welcome Martin Walker who offered to coordinate a South African "team" effort. All international organizers, please add Martin to all communication loops. Thank you!

June 10, 2003: England: Welcome Anna Markey, who offered to assist the organization on a part-time basis. She is a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA) IT Consultant BA Hons Middle Eastern Studies Microlight pilot and JAR SEP license.

November 28, 2002. India: We welcome Dr. Hamid Kazi from Mumbai as our new Country Contact in India. Dr. Kazi will help us obtain VFR flight clearances for the Rally over India and act as your initial point of contact for general information regarding India. Please contact the Rally Office for registrations, central coordination, or other issues which might have any financial or legal  bearing.

• aerial monitoring of the event's progress, 
• film and photography for online media broadcasts
• onboard seating for reporters, medics, rally officials

please go to Join the Pilots.

January 15, 2002: We have added a Press & Media page to this Site. Please feel encouraged to send the boilerplate letter you will find there to the editors of the various aviation publications in your country. To coordinate these campaigns, please inform our Press Office in advance.

1 0 0 !

Over 100 daring men and women in their flying machines have signed up for the Rally !

August 25, 2003: Franz Gindl, Austria, is member of the the Knockinger  Ultraleicht Fliegerklub.

June 18, 2003: Maurice Dupont Carvallo, Mexico. Maurice' long distance experience includes a flight from Cincinnati to Mexico. He is member of the San Diego Ultralight Club.

May 22, 2003: Colin MacKinnon, United Kingdom. Colin, a flying instructor/journalist, is a member of the BMAA flew from coast-to-coast of the USA in 1996.

May 20, 2003: Raveendran Subramaniam and his co-pilot Julian Aubert, from Melaka, Malaysia joined the team. Raveendran is Flight Park Manager / Chief Flying Instructor / Club Captain and member of the A'Famosa Microlight Flying Club

May 08, 2003: Ong Hock Leng, Singapore, is a senior port inspector and member of the Desaru Airports Club.

May 2, 2003: Guido Broich, Italy. Guido is German and a CEO of Public Company.

May 1, 2003: Ab Emmerzaal and Martin Van der Hagen from The Netherlands. Ab is a Veterinary Consultant. Both have race experience in Western Europe. Martin is member of KNVVL.

April 05, 2003. Werner Dupp from Germany signed up today. Please visit our Photo Gallery with impressions of Werner's long haul flights, particularly Morocco.

March 20, 2003. Lesley Provan, a  New Zealander, and her Co-Pilot, Peter Fitzsimmons, from Australia. They are members of the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia.

January 3, 2003. Sean Alcorn, Australia. Sean is member of the Australian Ultralight Federation.

December 18, 2002: Doi Malingri, Indiana, USA: Doi is Italian, and has 20 years experience flying and training hang-gliding, trikes, FIB, with now over 3000 hours. He has participated in 3 around the world Ocean Races. "I'am the founder of polaris Motor Srl that builds Hang Gliders, Wings, Trikes and FIb from 1082.

December 10, 2002: Claude Kisch - Luxembourg. Claude is member of the Aeroplume Luxembourg

December 01, 2002. Robert Crabtree, our first pilot from Swaziland

November 30, 2002: Dr med. Boon Leong Lee, Malaysia, has gained race experience in the International Air Rally in Ipoh 1980 as P1 Pilot Cessna 172. Boon is member of EAA (USA), and HGFA (Australia).

November 29, 2002: Roberto Sposato, Italy has long haul experience having flown from Rome to Granada.

November 25, 2002: Martin & Nikki Walker - South Africa. Martin's race experience includes: Cape Town to Durban 1000 miles. Four Provinces of South Africa 1500 miles. Kalahari Bundu Bash 2000, 45 planes, 500 miles. He is Ex Chairman of South African Microlighting Association, and  Ex Board Member of Aero Club of South Africa.

November 20, 2002: Ghazala Kazi, India, is a member of the Soaring Society of India

November 20, 2002: Hanno Ziesche, Germany . Hanno has 700 hours on the clock and is a member of the LSV Ederbergland e.V. / Bundeswehrflugsportgruppe Fritzlar e.V.

October 14, 2002: David Haygreen, United Kingdom, is member of BMAA & PFA & AOPA

October 12, 2002: Jos Theunissen, golfer, hunter and diver, and air, navigation and co-pilot,  Mrs. Yvonne Van Bommel, Netherlands - website

September 30, 2002: Andres de Souza-Coutinho, from Mexico City is a T.V. Director and member of the "Obejas Negras" Ultraligeros  ultralight club in Atlixco, Puebla

September 17, 2002: Geoff Hill and Victor Mitchell, Northern Ireland, UK. David took part in the first ultralight expedition to Shetland Islands and is member of the BMAA

August 23, 2002, Petr Tomasek, and Petr Bold, Czech Republic, both are solo flyers

August 21, 2002: Mark Stephens and Frans Kruger, South Africa

August 21, 2002: Eugene Vermeulen, and Cornell De Lange, South Africa

August 12, 2002, Barry Stevens, South Africa: "Race Experience: LANSERIA..>malawi>botswana cesna337"

August 12, 2002, Ainslie Vosloo and Pieter Odendaal, South Africa: "Our interest may increase to 3 or 4 aircraft, with 2 persons per craft."

June 28, 2002, John Dearn, UK

June 19, 2002: Baden Hall, South Africa

June 17, 2002: Dave Clark, South Africa

June 13, 2002: Richard Knowles, UK. Richard is our 100th pilot to sign up. Congratulations!

June 12, 2002: Adam and Nicholas Cartwright, Australia

June 11, 2002: Jan van der Heijden, and Ries Oostlander, Netherlands

June 02, 2002:  Luís and  Tiago Duarte, Portugal

Give all of our pilots a warm welcome in our logbook. Thanks!

May 15, 2002: Geoff Emmons and his co-pilot David Emmons, UK, signed up.

May 13, 2002: In 1998 Storm Smith from the UK and currently in Nigeria, flew a Pegasus 912 from Bangalore to the Farnborough International Air Show in 22 days!

May 11, 2002: John Cresswell, UK, has circumnavigated Australia!

May 8, 2002: Victor Carmichael, UK is planning to fly solo

March 30, 2002: Khalig Rehman, USA, joined the team.

March 17, 2002: Ray Rosekrans and his navigator Werner Geerling from the Netherlands joined us today. Ray is member of the KNVVL.

March 12, 2002: Prof. Frans Grotepass, South Africa, flies everything from Cessna Citations to Weight shift and has flown from South Africa to Europe twice and once to America from SA. Frans has 5300 hours on the clock and is a member of the Aeroclub of South Africa.

March 2, 2002: Uwe Herbert from Germany joined the team today.

February 22, 2002: Yoon Mo Sung, our first entry from Korea, participated in WAG 2001 and PPG World Championship. He is member of the Federation of Korea Aeronautics.

February 21, 2002: Emmanuel Eggermont from Belgium flew around Australia.

January 31, 2002: Michael Atkinson, an Australia army helicopter pilot from Darwin, has flown six times across Australia by helicopter! "I agree with Brian Milton that it should be a round the world rally."

January 29, 2002: João Trigoso Jordão is a medical doctor from Portugal and has also joined the Organizers (Guest & Medical Services). João has flown from Portugal to Paris, via England, and Belgium and back to Portugal. He is member of APAU, the Portuguese flying Organization for Ultraligts.

January 26, 2002: Rafig Rehman is a Canadian engineer living in the US and joined the team today.

January 5, 2002: James Pearce, one of our our UK Pilots, is honing his skills ...."I am shortly off to fly around Australia for 3.5 months." The very best of British luck to you, James, and please do keep us posted! 

January 7, 2002: Georges Hoffmann is our first registration from Luxembourg leading to a country count of 21! Georges is member of the Aeroplume Luxembourg, the official microlight club of Luxembourg, and has flown in France, Spain, Portugal and signed up up for Morocco-tour end of March 02.

January 2, 2002: Paul Calvert from the United Kingdom is our first registration this year! Paul is member of both the BMAA and BHPA, and a Development Consultant S Asia.

December 30, 2001: Björn Wolt, an engineer from Sweden and also member of the Smålanda Flygklubb / KSAK joined our flyers.

December 21, 2001: Joao Braganca and Hermano Baptista from Portugal joined those daring men. Joao likes paragliding, diving, golf, and deep-sea fishing, and was a participant twice in the Rally Portugal and once in the Andaluzia Rally. He is member of the Aeroclub Lagos.

December 20, 2001: Eric Morele, a French consultant joined the competitors.

December 13, 2001: Andreas Nilsson from Sweden and also member of the Smalanda Flygklubb joined our flyers.

December 5, 2001: Announcement

We take pride in presenting the winner of our 
Logo Competition:
 

Mike Jansen, Creative Director
at Tonic Design of South Africa
and a pilot at Microland!

Go to the Official Logo of the Marco Polo Rally

December 2, 2001: Ola Carlsson from Sweden joined our Armada. Ola is member of the Smålanda Flygklubb.

November 28, 2001: Mats Ekman and Susanna Bäcksröm from Småland Sweden signed up today. Mats is professional pilot with over 5000 hours.

November 21, 2001: Patricio Alarcón and Juan Espinosa from Ecuador came aboard. Patricio, a member of the Aeroclub del Pichincha, has over 1000 hours, and has participated in cross country flights. He is the General Manager of a factory and Juan, the co- and alternative pilot, is an engineer.

December 25, 2002: Michael Alarcon, Germany, joins Patricio Alarcón as copilot and navigator.

November 8, 2001: Jose and Pedro Carmo from Portugal joined the pilots. Jose participated in the Portugal Rally and is member of the BMAA, and Aero Clube de Lagos.

Give all of our pilots a warm welcome in our logbook. Thanks!

On Sunday November 04, 2001 Ian Williams from South Africa joined the daring men in their flying machines. Ian is a member of the Western Cape Microlight Club. 

November 02, 2001, Wolf-Peter Korth from Germany joined the aviators.

On November 1, 2001 the accomplished Captain Sivaraman, from Malaysia joined the both the pilots and is our new Country Contact for Malaysia, India, Burma, Vietnam and China! Captain Sivarman has flown the route from PARIS TO SINGAPORE like four times in 1990, in a Cessna 402 at low levels and has been regularly flying these routes since then at 'high level'. As a Captain he been piloting Jet Transports since 1989….B737’s (200, 300 & 400’s), Airbus A300, DC10,s, B747-200/300 and now B747-400’s…..17 000hrs 

November 1, 200: From the Czech Republic Dr. Miroslav Raudensky, and his navigator Petr Hruska came on board. Dr. Miroslav Raudensky is researcher at the Institute of Aerospace Engineering and has race experience in Africa (Luxor) crossed Mediterranean Sea (7000 km) and northern Sweden. These daring men in their flying machines are thinking about a return trip via Mongolia, Russia and Ukraine.

October 30, 2001, James Pearce from the UK signed up.

October 29, 2001: Luke Carmody from Australia registered as the 54th pilot ! Luke organized many group flights, longest of these was east cost of Australia (about 4800 kms) in 4 weeks. He is Director of Skywise Microlights one of Australia's oldest Microlight Schools. "The rally sounds like it will be a 'once in a lifetime experience' not to be missed."

October 25, 2001: Gerry Breen and Karen Steven from Portugal registered as the 50th and 51st pilots ! Shortly after, on October 26, Anders Toren, from Sweden signed up.

October 24, 2001: Sean Scott Elizabeth Gutierrez, from the USA joined the pilots. "Thanks for the welcome! We look forward to the journey and would be proud to take part in the Marco Polo Rally! Fly Safe, Sean Scott ASC BFI www.pflinden.com"

October 23, 2001: Kjell k-e Skoog, from Sweden and Andreas Fuchs and Switzerland singed up today!

September 2001: Niclas Peyron from Sweden, Kevin Kinsey from the US, and Gerry Madden, from UK.

Sept 2000: Donald Linemann, USA, (I) have Flown Micro-light trike from Northern Wisconsin to Southern Texas and from Midwest to East Coast, back to to West coast and back to Midwest, website.

Stay Tuned

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To support us and for in-depth background information go to Friends of the Marco Polo Rally

Acknowledgements

Peter von Walzel peter.v.walzel[at]kolumbus.fi  12.10.1999

Hallo, As an old ultralight pilot (1984-1989), this realy warms my heart to see a project like this. I am planning to fly round the world in the year 2000, with a stop at the paralympics in Sydney 19-29.10.2000. The airplane is a Cessna Cardinal and this could come in handy as a follow airplane for the ultralights? The Cardinal has a range of 15 hours. Please let me know if this is a good idea for your rally?
Dear Peter, as discussed by e-mail, we gratefully accept your generous offer, Roger

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