Adrian Eichhorn and his Beechcraft Bonanza P35 completed the trip of a lifetime June 7 when he landed in Manassas, Virginia, after a 25,000-mile flight around the world. His aircraft was modified with 100-gallon tip tanks on the wings, helping to propel him to 21 countries.
Eichhorn launched his round-the-world flight on April 10, flying in five continents and over three oceans for a personal achievement that, he says, had nothing to do with record books. “This isn’t a record, it isn’t a best this or that, it’s pushing the limits of anything I’ve ever done,” said the 60-year-old Jet Blue Airways pilot. He remembers that aviator/inventor Burt Rutan once signed his autograph book by drawing a picture of Voyager and writing Adventure is the essence of life. “It stuck with me. I was at a point in my life, both time and financially, that I could do it,” he said. The trip pushed the aircraft’s performance and Eichhorn’s endurance. He came home physically tired but emotionally energized by the experience. He will share his insights and stories at seminars at all of the upcoming AOPA Fly-Ins.
Aircraft maintenance has become Eichhorn’s avocation, and he recently was named the 2016 Maintenance Technician of the Year by the FAA/industry General Aviation Awards program. For the past four and a half years, he dismantled and restructured his 54-year-old Bonanza for the trip. He enlarged the baggage door, replaced the skin—“Sheet metal work is a form of therapy,” he said—rebuilt the panel, rebuilt the wings, and added those tip tanks. He had 270 gallons of usable fuel, which served him well on the long-haul flights this trip demanded. The longest leg was from Hilo, Hawaii, to Long Beach, California, wher JetBlue flies. “Flying GA keeps me sharp. I never want to be an airline pilot who doesn’t know how to fly,” he said.
