Background

FWD aims to carry out a minimum of two record-setting aviation speed records flown by pilots with diabetes in the UK, USA and Europe, and arrange a series of Flying With Diabetes Days at airfields or aviation museums for children and adults with diabetes, their families and friends, while raising funds for JDRF. The projects also aim to support positive awareness-raising for Pilots With Diabetes (www.pilotswithdiabetes.com).

FWD builds upon a number of exciting projects including Diabetes World Flight, Diabetes Flight 50 and Diabetes Polar Flight which was (respectively) the first round-the world flight by a pilot with type 1 diabetes (2003), an award-winning speed record to land in all 50 states of the USA (2010), and a solo speed record from Barrow, Alaska to the North Pole (2011). These have been carried out by Douglas Cairns. More recently, freshly-minted National Private Pilot Licence-holder Karl Beetson joined Douglas to break a 34-hour speed record around the coast of Britain in a tiny Vans RV8 on 14th August 2011.

More recently projects are focusing on setting formation flying speed records in the UK and USA (www.dffusa.com) including Diabetes Formation Flight UK in 2012 which celebrated new policy introuduced by the UK Civil Aviation Authority to allow commercial and full private flying for pilots with insulin-treated diabetes.

Details of each event will be posted immediately before, during and after on the Homepage.