Is there anything that Fakhre Alam hasn’t done? He has sung Bhangra Rap, he has acted, he has played the host, he’s done his share of philanthropy and also holds a say in the censor board. But if all of that wasn’t enough, he is now on his way to travel the globe and make a world record of flying solo!
Pursuing his childhood dream, Fakhre Alam recently acquired training and a private pilot license from United States and being an active user on Twitter, he didn’t refrain from posting his pictures in the jet.
Alam is dedicating his mission to all Pakistanis, he told Images: “I dedicate this flight to the brave nation of Pakistan that has made countless sacrifices for [the fight] against dark and evil forces. I want the world to know we are a resilient and peace loving nation and we want to contribute to the global community for progress and prosperity.”
His initiative will also raise funds for his charity organisation I Care Foundation, which helps other organisations such as the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT), Edhi Foundation, among others.
The route:
Fakhre Alam plans to fly solo in a small turbo prop airplane and go around the world completing 30,000 nautical miles in multiple stages.
He will begin his journey from Orlando, Florida, from where he’ll head north to New York, Toronto, and Anchorage and further to North Atlantic crossing Iceland, Greenland to enter Europe. He’ll then go down to North Africa and the Middle East from where he will enter Pakistan to travel from China to Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. Following this track, he’ll cross the Pacific to halt his journey into mainland America.
The journey is expected to take 55 days and is subjected to weather conditions and airspace availability. He plans to depart in the last week of February 2016.
Will he become a World Record holder?
Given that this is not the first attempt by someone to fly across the world, here’s the catch as to why Fakhre Alam just might make a world record: he’ll be travelling through all those places in the least number of hours and he also isn’t as experienced as the prior pilots. The flights taken by more than 200 people in aviation history have required at least 250 hours, but Fakhre Alam has been able to pull it off under 100 hours during his training.
Alam’s passion to follow his dream rekindled when he worked with armed forces following the aftermath of 2005 earthquake. They took up challenging aviation missions during that time. Ever since then, he too aspired to go on a mission to mark Pakistan’s name in history of flying solo.