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“Inspiration” to make local aviation history Cathay Pacific Captain Hank Cheng to complete historic round-the-world journey in his homebuilt aircraft this Sunday

Hong Kong’s first homebuilt aircraft to fly under a local registration – “Inspiration” – is returning home on Sunday, 13 November, successfully completing its historic round-the-world journey.

Piloted by Cathay Pacific Captain Hank Cheng, “Inspiration”, an RV-8 single-engine aircraft, will have flown approximately 55,000 km by the time it touches down at Hong Kong International Airport, a three-month trip that has featured stops in around 25 countries, including Australia, the United States, France, Jordan, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The project represents an important milestone in the history of Hong Kong aviation. Cathay Pacific is extremely proud of the efforts of the entire Inspiration team, led by Hank and Flight Engineer Gary Tat, and is also thankful to Cathay Pacific staff across its global network for their tremendous support in making the tour a success.

Hank, Gary and other members of the team will meet with the media after “Inspiration” lands in Hong Kong, while members of the public will also have the opportunity to share in the spirit of the occasion. Further details, including the flight’s arrival time and route through Hong Kong airspace will be announced via the project’s website, (http://www.inspiration.bkoo.hk/), and official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/inspiration.bkoo/).

“Inspiration” took seven years to build and performed its maiden flight on 15 November 2015. Hank, who joined Cathay Pacific in 2001, has been supported every step of the way by the Inspiration team, a dedicated group of Cathay Pacific employees who have worked round-the-clock, monitoring the flight’s progress from the Inspiration Operation Centre, which is housed at Cathay City, the airline’s headquarters at Chek Lap Kok.