Spreading their wings: Father, son plan to set world record with 30-day flight

Journey to promote education covers 15 countries.

ST LOUIS, UNITED STATES: Ever since he was a little boy, Babar Suleman dreamed of being a pilot. In 2004, he took flight and since then, it has been difficult to pin him down – since then, he has logged 1,635 hours of flying time. Now an engineer and living in Plainfield, Indiana, Suleman has set his sights on his most ambitious journey to date: flying around the world in 30 days in a single engine plane.

The trip seeks to promote education for underprivileged children and will include five continents, a journey across three oceans, and landings in 15 countries – Suleman will touch down in Reykjavik, Crete, Aswan (Egypt), Nagpur (India), Bali, Nadi (Fiji), Pago Pago (American Samoa), Kiribati (Christmas Island), and Kona (Hawaii), amongst other cities. His Pakistan leg of the journey includes stops in Lahore, Sargodha and Islamabad.

“There is apprehension, there is excitement and a sense of purpose to support education for the underprivileged children of Pakistan,” Suleman said while speaking with The Express Tribune. He has a message for these children, he says. “Sitaaron se aagay jahan aur bhi hain,” he says, “That is my message for all Pakistanis.” He explains, “My heroes while growing up were Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, two personalities who provided the guiding light for generations to come in Pakistan.” The men and women of his generation, he says, must also ‘strive to be the role models for the younger generation.” Iqbal’s poetry and ghazals of Asadullah Khan Ghalib will accompany Suleman on the trip.

Suleman is not flying solo; his son, Haris, aged 17, will make the journey with him and they are scheduled to land in Karachi on June 17. Haris will be the youngest Pilot in Command to fly a single engine plane around the world while his father will have the honour of being the first Pakistani American to circumnavigate the globe. Last year, Australian citizen, Ryan Campbell, 19, became the youngest person to fly a single-engine aircraft solo around the world, which took 70 days and Suleman intends to beat this record.

Suleman attended the Pakistan Air Force College Sargodha in 1971 and went on to pursue an education in Engineering. In 1981, he graduated from Engineering University, Taxila with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked in Pakistan for three years before migrating to the US. In 2013, the Sulemans bought a Beechcraft Bonanza and replaced the engine and other vital components. In January this year, Suleman floated the idea of a world trip to his wife and son. Once they were on board, a flight route was charted. The political climate in these countries determined the journey. Two destinations, Suleman says, were nixed after tensions escalated there. “I realized from the start that this is a dangerous journey,” Suleman says, and so both father and son have prepared themselves as much as possible, taking, for instance, a sea survival course.

After traversing 26,000 miles, the Sulemans will return to Indiana on July 8. The total cost of the journey is $70,000. Those interested in Suleman’s progress can track his plane and view videos from cameras mounted to the aircraft’s body.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.