Just read in the US AOPA magazine that he has an IR. So he’s no fool to have done that at age 18… It also makes the whole flight considerably easier.
Also mentioned were stats like 64 stops, 235hrs TT flown, 800nm each day on average.
It didn’t mention the logistics support but the endurance itself is remarkable.
He’s apparently writing a book about the whole story, including the reason for changing plane and sponsors. I guess we will then know at least his version of the story.
I think the PA28 went down the swamps of UK GA maintenance, I don’t know the exact details but the mechanical & the avionics expertise was not around and aircraft probably end up in a bad state? the PA28 did not fly for ages, one need lot of guts to fly her over Atlantic with engines & electrics that have not flown for a year…
Someone pointed this out to me:
In order to take advantage of ESTA (basically a prefilled I-94 form) you need to travel on a carrier that is on CBP’s VWP approved list (https://www.cbp.gov/document/report/signatory-visa-waiver-program-vwp-carriers).
Being on the list involves among other obligations posting a financial bond to the CBP.
BackPacker wrote:
The thing with the VWP is that you apply at the border, and if the friendly immigration officer refuses you, the airline, by contract, has to take you back. However on a private plane the government cannot force you to fly back. So private pilots are not eligible for the VWP.
It’s still a bit odd. A proper visa also doesn’t guarantee entry. The “friendly” immigration officer can still refuse you. And as you need an approved ESTA pre-registration I would expect it to be quite unusual that VWP entry is refused. But of course I don’t have any statistics.
AeroPlus wrote:
There is still the weather element, the ATC talks and differences in airspace and lots of other uncertainties. Just compare it to all those pilots that find it complicated or problematic to fly further away from home base than a day’s worth of flying.
I sneaked a quick look to weather TAF/METAR & en-route WX on lot of his flights, I have to say he did load of good calls and flew his aircraft to it’s WX edge and flight enveloppe corners, it was not a walk in the park (e.g. some go-around at M/DH, few diverts/cancels, flying max range, IMC & ice en-counters at +FL120, technical issues…), already flying C172 above FL100 in VMC for 7h is way above what the average GA pilot could do this year, or even handle in the last 20 years !
It’s always easy untill you have to do it 
I also had to get a B1/B2 visa for the US due to the fact that I had been flying through Yemen and some other countries which were on that list. I just applied for the visa, was asked what I was doing in those countries, explained that and got the B1/B2 visa. With such a visa you can fly privately in and out of the US. In my case, I wanted to fly from Florida to the Bahamas and Cuba and back. That trip was planned for last year May and due to Covid-19 cancelled. Now the NIE exemption is another story, but for flight training etc. it is easily provided on request.
I still think this young guy did a great flight around the world. There is still the weather element, the ATC talks and differences in airspace and lots of other uncertainties. Just compare it to all those pilots that find it complicated or problematic to fly further away from home base than a day’s worth of flying.
Isn’t that about the Greenland route? Nobody dares to go on a straight line over the atlantic with a SEP, or am I wrong here?
Yes, but that isn’t “Europe to US”. That is “Europe to US with a few stops” 
Ibra wrote:
funnily enough when asking how far & how long no one was able to answer?
Indeed, this is a weird grey area. I asked the same question for a European friend who was going to fly with me to Canada, and nobody could give me a real timescale. It seems like a week or thereabouts is fine, I wouldn’t want to push my luck too much by going over, say, two weeks.
