Flying his plane named "Spirit of San Diego," pilot Robert DeLaurentis circumnavigated the globe, taking off from San Diego in May and returning in August. At a press availability at Landmark Aviation, DeLaurentis talked about his trip and was greeted by admirers.
SAN DIEGO — Robert DeLaurentis had ten minutes to figure out if he would live or die.
He was flying solo over Southeast Asia when he lost oil pressure and power in the only engine in his Piper Malibu Mirage. His small aircraft had essentially turned from a complex flying machine into a glider, and it seemed like his attempt to fly around the world was coming to a premature end.
He was somewhere over the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways in the world. If he ended up crashing into the strait he not only had to worry about being killed in the wreck, but if he survived the crash he would have to stay afloat until he could be found and rescued.
It left him with one option: figure out how to get to an airport as he slowly lost altitude.
“I realized that I had five or ten minutes that would determine the rest of my life,” he said at a San Diego news conference Monday.
The decisions he made would mean the difference between death, or possibly walking away from a wrecked aircraft, or just having a broken airplane stuck on a runway in need of a good mechanic and some repairs. Like many pilots, including ones with much more experience, DeLaurentis had never fought through an engine loss outside of a simulator.
“I did what I was trained to do by my instructors and I turned to the nearest airport,” said DeLaurentis, who before he launched this trip had logged 1,200 flight hours since getting his pilot’s license five years ago.
That meant he was headed to Kuala Lumpur International Airport nearly 20 nautical miles away. It was the closest runway to his plane, but air traffic control tried to redirect him to the airport he came from so that he wouldn’t interrupt commercial traffic, DeLaurentis said.
There wasn’t enough time, or distance between his plane and the ground to take that longer trip, he said.
“I felt like I was being tested,” he said.
After air traffic control tried to divert his path for the fourth time, he finally made it fully clear that he was in peril, that he couldn’t make it to another airport, and, yes, he was landing at Kuala Lumpur International. Fire trucks were waiting on the runway, as well as around 20 spectators who weren’t used to seeing a small airplane in the lineup of 737s that frequent the airport.
“I didn’t expect that outcome. I was hoping for it but the chances were slim,” he said.
His plane, which he dubbed the “Spirit of San Diego” sat on the tarmac for a few days for repairs, and he considered abandoning the rest of his trip. Shaken, but relieved, he got back into the cockpit, and flew out of Malaysia. With a few stops in between, he landed in Monterey on Wednesday, and in San Diego, his home, on Saturday. He flew over 27,000 miles over three months.
The trip was part spiritual journey, part fundraiser for programs at Lindbergh-Schweitzer Elementary and Aviation Owners and Pilots Association Flight Training Scholarship Program. Besides being an aviation enthusiast, DeLaurentis is a speaker and author.
“The feat that Robert DeLaurentis accomplished, not only ingrains the innovative fabric that we have here in San Diego, but the charitable spirit of the community and people,” Anthony George, a representative for Mayor Kevin Faulconer said.
DeLaurentis was also testing new aviation technology designed to make general aviation cheaper and safer. His Piper had a unique combination of a special coating that reduced drag, a propeller that helped him climb faster and more efficiently, a transmission that allowed him to fly faster with less fuel, and a Bluetooth system that allowed him to enter pre-programmed routes into his plane’s global positioning system rather than idling on the tarmac while entering coordinates. These features have various advantages over older technologies, including making the aircraft more fuel efficient, DeLaurentis said.
“Fuel is an enormous expense,” he said.
His plane also had new safety features, including air bags to protect him if he crashes.
While the near-death experience in Malaysia was harrowing, DeLaurentis, the so-called “Zen Pilot,” said there were moments of unbridled bliss throughout the journey. Some came when he was flying over the ocean or a vast landscape.
“It’s a very emotional time and I think there’s a very emotional connection with the planet,” he said. “You realize it’s really just one.”
And there were times that there was nobody within his radio’s 1,000-mile range. Still, he didn’t feel alone.
“I don’t think it was ever just me because I always felt like there were people supporting me along the way,” he said.
The times when he did hear from people, whether it was through emails or social media messages, were among the best parts of the adventure, he said.
“People were telling me things they were going to do because of my flight,” he said.
They told him that they were inspired to lose weight, or to learn a language, or hike a mountain, he said.
“I’ll never forget that,” he said.
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