Wings Around the World

A pilot’s account of her around-the-world adventure, including color photos.   On May 6, 2003, Polly Vacher, a fifty-nine-year-old mother of three, took off from an airport in Birmingham, England, seeking to become the first pilot to complete a solo flight around the world, via both Poles, in a single-engine aircraft. Despite having only a few years of flying experience, Polly had already completed a lateral solo circumnavigation of the world in 2001 for the charity Flying Scholarships for