24 August, 2018
Keithair Misquitta and Aarohi Pandit are two Indian women travelling the globe, but their journey is different to that of all other jet-setters, and they’re doing it in unique style. They’re on a trip the completion of which will make then the first all-female crew to fly around the world, covering around 40,000 km.
Misquitta and Pandit arrived in Slovenia to spend two days at Ajdovščina, the home of Pipistrel. This stop-over is a special one, as the Slovenian company made the airplane the two adventurers are travelling in, and the firm is thus giving it a thorough check and performing regular maintenance work.
On landing the two young women, both in their early 20s and from Mumbai, were welcomed by the Indian Ambassador, Param Jit Mann, Pipistrel’s owner, Ivo Boscarol, and the company director, Ingrid Heuffel Berginc. The plane the team are flying in is a specially outfitted Pipistrel Sinus 912, aka “Miha”, with that later name meaning “‘great planet Earth” in Sanskrit.
This is 80 horsepower plane that can fly no more than four hours at a time, with a cruising speed of 215 km/ph. Because of the plane’s small size it’s vulnerable to bad weather, which is the most important factor with regard to how fast the trip goes, although around three months is anticipated for the whole adventure, with stops in 23 countries.
Misquitta and Pandit told the STA that they set out on the journey to empower women in their homeland, and demonstrate that they are more than able to take on tasks that are still perceived as being masculine ones. Their flight will also help raise money to support the education of Indian girls who wish to work in aviation, and the aims of the project are made clear in its name, WE Expedition, the WE standing for women empower.
Screenshot from the earlier video, showing the women's route
The two women arrived in Slovenia after setting out from Pakistan and making stops in Iran, Bulgaria and Serbia, and will take to the skies again on Saturday morning before getting reading to cross the Atlantic. You can follow the daring duo in their record attempt on the adventure’s Facebook page, or on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The Overall WE Project also has its own website, here.
