Round the World Solo Flight for Cancer Patients

Round the World Solo Flight for Cancer Patients

Indian-born US Citizen Dr Ravi Bansal shares his adventurous flight around the globe for a cause

Dr Ravi Bansal is the only person of Indian origin American citizen to fly solo around the world in his single-engine plane for cancer awareness and also raised Rs. 1.5 crore for cancer and general hospital in his home town Ambala Cantt.. His feat has recently been recognized for inclusion in the 2020 edition of the Limca Book of Records.

"It was a tribute to my sister-in-law, Sneh Bansal, who was instrumental in bringing me up but died of cancer in Ambala that gave me the mission to create awareness around the world," says Ravi Bansal.

Ravi, based in Buffalo, USA, has published his autobiographical book with an account of his solo flight, "Cleared Direct Destination", which is the final command given by the air traffic controller (ATC) to the aircraft pilot to approach the airport for landing.

"I have taken this title because even before undertaking the flight my destination was very crisp and clear, i.e. to generate awareness about cancer and raise funds for the hospital in my home town," Ravi said. 

Priced at Rs.650 he has gifted all his books to the Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital in his hometown, and the entire proceeds of the book go to the cancer hospital. "This is not a sale price but a donation that anyone may care to give to the Hospital and this book is a gift to them," he added.

Ravi Bansal, born in Ambala Cantt, after graduating from engineering college Allahabad shifted to the USA in 1971. He did his Doctorate in mechanical engineering Georgia College of Engineering, and during his studies, in 1977, he learnt flying and got a pilot licence.

"Flying was my passion and I used to love making paper planes and would send them flying from the Kasauli hillside while standing with my father who was a doctor, and resultantly, when I was in USA, I learnt flying but never got the chance to continue with my passion, since I got busy with my business, which otherwise took me 30 different countries every year, till I sold my business and retired myself to follow my passion," he said.

He undertook the flight from Buffalo, USA, on 4th July 2017 and after 46 days of exciting trip returned home on 20th August 2019, which was to spread awareness and raise money for the Rotary Ambala Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, and was able to raise Rs.1.5 crores to partly fund the acquisition of an MRI machine for the hospital.

The highlight of the journey was when I got permission to land in my home town Ambala on the air force base, an honour no civilian plane has ever enjoyed, and received by the fighter pilots and the IAF commander of the station.

The six-week solo flight around the world went right on schedule, despite some glitches with the plane.  He flew more than 26, 000 miles and had to acquire numerous documents for each trip, customs clearance and insurance spending nearly Rs.75 lakh from his own pocket on the trip.

"If you have a single-engine plane and you are flying over land you can usually land safely on a road or field but when you fly around the world, 70% of times you are flying over the water. When you fly in a commercial the plane you are up at 35,000 feet bit I was flying at 10,000-15,000 feet and saw numerous volcanoes just couple of thousand feet below and many of them were active while others were dormant," said Bansal.

"The scariest part was flying over the northern Atlantic from Canada to Greenland. But for me, the journey showed me how beautiful and how fragile, the geography of our planet is," said Ravi.

The Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital is providing free and subsidized service to the cancer patients and with the support of Ravi Bansal and his wife, and local Rotarians and philanthropists have started a free home service for poor terminally ill cancer patients, named after his bhabhi as 'Sneh-Sparsh', who are not only provided medical assistance but also a three months ration is also provided to them.

The hospital has a Rs.25 lakh as monthly running expense which is being supported by Rotarians and the community but in order to continue to provide its service, there is a dire need for funds.

Donation to the hospital can be made through its website and by clicking on the individual donation button, on http://www.rotaryhospitalambala.com/  or  can also visit directly on the link http://www.rotaryhospitalambala.com/donate/paytm-checkout/

 

EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK 

CLEARED DIRECT DESTINATION

My Solo Flight Around the World for Cancer Awareness

I began my solo flight around the world as if it had already been Cleared Direct Destination, for its figurative destination, to raise cancer awareness and support the Rotary Ambala Cancer & General Hospital in my hometown in India. Circumnavigating the earth solo in a single-engine plane, like climbing Mount Everest, is an ultimate test in courage and skill. Few people attempt, and even fewer complete it. More than four thousand have climbed Mount Everest, but only one hundred and twenty-three have flown around the world solo. No one of Indian origin had yet accomplished this feat. If successful, I would be the first. Preparations were intense; failure was not an option! 

PREFACE

Circumnavigating the earth solo in a single-engine plane is like climbing Mount Everest or going into space, the ultimate test in courage and skill. With a minimal chance of survival in case of a mishap, all are inherently risky. Few people attempt, and even fewer complete them. Even so, more than four thousand have climbed Mount Everest, and more than five hundred have gone into space, but only one hundred and twenty-three have flown around the world solo. I completed this feat at the age of sixty-eight, becoming the first person of Indian Origin to do so.

 This book tells the story of my quest to learn to fly and of my round-the-world solo flight to raise cancer awareness and to collect funds for the Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital in India. The flight took place from July 4, 2017, through August 20, 2017. It met all its goals. Just as I used my passion for flying as a medium to serve, hopefully, this story will inspire others to use their passions or vocations as mediums to serve.

For pilots wanting to undertake such round-the-world flights, this book describes in detail how to plan, prepare, and execute such flights.

Furthermore, in continuation of the campaign for the Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital, all proceeds from the sale of this book will go toward funding the development and further growth of the hospital.

FOREWORD

By  Satish K. Tripa I Ph.D. President, University at Buffalo State University of New York
 and Robert I. Miller, ATP, CFII

Dr. Ravi Bansal grew up in a small town in India and went on to grow the corporation he co-founded into a worldwide entity. He went from flying paper airplanes as a child to flying his single-engine plane solo around the world - the first native of India, and one of only a handful of individuals, to accomplish such a feat.

Clearly, Dr. Bansai - an accomplished engineer and private pilot who has lived in the U.S.A. for five decades - has a story to tell. In "Cleared Direct Destination," he does so in a compelling fashion, juxtaposing the highs and lows of his life's journey with those of his around-the-world trek.

Whether navigating the corporate world or an airplane, Dr. Bansal recounts how he used methodical planning and close attention to detail to succeed in both endeavors. His clown-to-earth storytelling style creates an inviting read in which he is forthcoming about his struggles and factual about his mishaps.

I found his narrative about traveling from India first to Arizona State University and then to Georgia Tech for graduate studies truly inspiring. 'through hard work, confidence, and determination, Dr. Bansal found his

path in business. From there, he tapped these very same qualities to circumnavigate the globe.

This book flows easily and leaves readers interested to learn more.

 Blending his life's journey with his time in the cockpit, Dr. Ban reveals the close interplay between the two. The Conversations  between Dr. Bansal and his logistics support team, both on ground and while airborne during flights around the world, offers, readers perspectives that they have likely never considered before.

 

Congratulations, Dr. Bansal, on a great read. I salute y( inspirational journey!

Satish K. Tripathi, Ph.D

 

INTRODUCTION July 25, 2017

Flying alone at 17,000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea in my single-engine Columbia 400, disaster struck. I'd begun my solo round-the-world flight by taking off from Buffalo, New York three weeks earlier, and had not had any major safety issues in all that time. But now, my engine began to run roughly, jerking and sounding as if it was on the verge of quitting. Not only that, with my Garmin GPS not functioning properly, I was losing my situational awareness. Unnerved, I took a deep breath; this wasn't a time to panic. My anesthesiologist wife, Pratibha, likes to say that pilots and anesthesiologists have this in common: 99% of the time our jobs are routine or even boring, and 1% of the time it is sheer panic which involves dealing with a real life-or-death emergency. It appeared that my 1% time to panic had come.

Since I'd worked as an engineer for most of my life, I knew that, when something goes wrong, the best way to fix it is to go down the list of possible culprits until the source of the problem is found. Noticing that the fuel flow was fluctuating severely, I thought maybe the fuel pump had failed. I turned the backup pump on, but it didn't make any difference. The engine still bucked like an angry horse.