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Orange Hat-Trick Challenge

Orange are supporting Steve Cunningham's attempt to complete his hat-trick of challenges as he flies around the UK in a light aircraft from 12 to 16 July 2004. Read what happens each day and see how he feels about the huge challenge he faces.

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16th July
Cardiff to Waltham

Flight time: 1.5 hours
I left Cardiff airport at about midday for the final leg of the challenge, which was much later than expected due to adverse weather conditions. Due to the mist and thick cloud we routed with the help of several radar services. We climbed out towards North West Cardiff and headed into Waltham in an easterly direction. It was a much shorter journey today and we landed at 1.25 pm.

After 3 years of hard work and practice it's an amazing feeling to have completed the challenge - it's something that will be with me for the rest of my life. I'd like to thank everybody for their fantastic support throughout the challenge this week.

15th July
Belfast to Cardiff

Flight time: 3.5 hours
Today's flight from Newtonards has been the most testing leg of the challenge so far. We took off from the airfield at 10.30am and the weather was fine then we flew down towards Dublin and came into thick cloud and fog. We were dependent on air traffic control. At Dublin we descended to stay below passing air traffic but then climbed again to fly over the Irish sea coming into Wales over Haverfordwest and then over Swansea and around the coast of Swansea. After we came around Swansea, we headed straight to Cardiff and we landed at 1.30pm. I'm looking forward to staying in Cardiff and beginning the last leg of the challenge to White Waltham tomorrow morning.

14th July
Glasgow to Belfast

I'm now half way through the challenge, and I'm really pleased with how it's gone so far. I took off from Glasgow this morning and was a little concerned with the weather as the forecast wasn't good. However, once we got above the weather, it was a smooth and pleasant flight. It became a little bumpy as we came over the coast and headed towards Newtonards. We had to land on the longer of the two runways, which meant landing in a cross-wind. Overall, it was a good flight and I'm delighted to be here.

13th July
Newcastle to Glasgow

There was a lot less air traffic when I left Newcastle this morning compared to London yesterday. I flew up the coast for the first 35 to 40 minutes and over Holy Island, before heading in-land and above 'Hogwarts' from the Harry Potter films. It was a bit bumpy around the hills on the approach to Glasgow due to the winds, but it was a great flight. I was very touched by the messages I received over the radio as I passed through air traffic control.

12th July
Biggin Hill to Newcastle

Flight time: 3.5 hours
My first day of flying went well, but very tiring. I was up at 5am and by the time I got to Biggin Hill the media were already waiting to interview me. At first I was taxiing around London for a while because there were so many other flights. We stopped quickly at Sheffield to refuel and there was a strong headwind which didn't make things easy. The flight up to Darlington was smooth and then got very turbulent before Newcastle. The total flight time was three and half hours and because of the amount of concentrating I did - I was very tired and aching by the end of it. Overall it was very enjoyable but a long day.