DELANO, MN – James Aarestad, a 23-year-old pilot from Delano, just got back from what he calls a “trip of a lifetime.”
Not many people can say they’ve flown a one-of-a-kind airplane to South Africa, and it was an experience Aarestad won’t soon forget.
The trip took 22 days, 980 gallons of fuel, 10,000 miles, and 15 fuel stops.
Bruce Topp of Buffalo spent about four years building the Velocity XL at the Buffalo Airport, and a man from South Africa named Steve Strachan purchased the plane.
Aarestad took video recordings of each day on the trip, and they can be seen on YouTube, www.youtube.com. His YouTube channel is “c152blazer.”
One of the videos shows Aarestad pouring gas into the fuel tanks, and can be seen below:
Look for the full article in the Monday, Nov. 23 issue of the Delano Herald Journal.
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