Aviation World Record Achieved for Coast-to-Coast Flight

By EAA Staff
(eaa.org)

Michael Combs and his son Daniel Routh celebrate in Charleston, South Carolina, after unofficially setting a point-to-point transcontinental world record. (Courtesy of Flight for the Human Spirit)Michael Combs earned a sixth aviation world record in his Hope One Remos GX light-sport aircraft after completing a coast-to-coast flight on Saturday, June 7, as part of his Flight for Human Spirit project.

If Combs’ flight is verified by the National Aeronautic Association and ultimately the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, it would establish a new point-to-point transcontinental speed record for this class of aircraft.
Between April 2010 and September 2012, Combs flew for the Flight for Human Spirit project through all 50 states and British Columbia, Canada. He departed Ontario International Airport in California at 5:27 a.m. on June 5 and landed at Charleston, South Carolina, 34 hours, 1 minute later. Flight for the Human Spirit’s mission is to spread the message that it is never, ever too late to follow your dreams. This was Combs’ third attempt at the transcontinental record.

The flight’s final leg was the most emotionally charged for Combs, the Remos team, and fans due to weather. However, it cleared in time for Combs, who was accompanied by his son, Daniel Routh, to make his landing in Charleston.

“There are some landings that are more significant than others, and that one in Charleston will always be a fond part of my life,” Combs said.

The mission has inspired aviation enthusiasts to want to learn to fly or return to flying, according to comments the team received during the coast-to-coast flight. “It’s humbling to think of how many people we reach from these flights,” Combs stated. “We average more than 100,000 hits [to our website] each day of flight and are overwhelmed by the support of those who believe in the value of what we are doing.”