Record-breaking mission flies ahead

Ron’s Record Breaking Attempt Takes Flight
Every six minutes, a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) aeroplane takes off somewhere in the world; providing life-altering support for people living in remote places. Tomorrow, Ron Watts is attempting an Australian record for the most number of landings in a single day.

For the challenge, Watts is aiming to complete 100 landings throughout the day at Illawarra Regional Airport to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of MAF in Papua New Guinea.  He will start at 7am and do five sessions where he will complete 20 circuits. After each session he will take a short break to re-fuel and then set off for another session, aiming to finish at about 4.30pm.

Watts has been a pilot for about 40 years and has always loved to fly. “For some people their passion might be horses or fishing, but for me it’s aviation and it always has been, all my life,” he said.

MAF have around 120 planes servicing 3000 destinations around the world.

“We do whatever needs doing,” Watts said. “We fly people, freight, mail, lots of medical flying, evacuations and in fact hundreds of lives are saved each year with the emergency medical flying,” he added.

He spent most of his flying career working for MAF, having started with them in 1975. Watts is now based in Wollongong and actively works with the community to spread the message of MAF, so people know who they are and what they do. “We’re not there to make money,” he said. “ Part of the reason for what I’m doing to fundraise for MAF, because we depend heavily on the giving of the public who have supported this work over many years,” he added.

The record attempt has had a great community response, “many people are supporting me for a dollar a landing, which is just wonderful,” he said. “I set myself a goal of $10,000 and at this rate we might even exceed it, which is just great,” he added.

Shellharbour City Council, Air BP, Skydive the Beach and a number of individuals have made significant sponsorship contributions for the event. The council will wave all the landing fees, which will save about a thousand dollars, and Air BP will supply the fuel.

There is no current record and although Watts has only ever done about 20 landings in a day, he is confident the attempt will be successful. “As long as the plane keeps going and I have every confidence in this aircraft, I think we’ll make it through,” he said.

When asked if he thought anyone would attempt to break his record, Watts said maybe, “If someone hears about it they might think they can beat it and then the challenge will be for me to beat that,” he laughed.

Watts encouraged the community to come down and support his attempt and help to raise funds for MAF in the process. People can also sponsor online by visiting at www.every6minutes.com and making a donation.

 
Words by PAT FAHY
Photos by BEC FIST
Video by TAMARA GASSER