Around the world flight showcases resilience
In Monday’s Butler Eagle, we learned about an around-the-world flight that began and ended at the Zelienople Municipal Airport.
The pilot, Ross Edmondson, a native of the United Kingdom, had hoped to finish the flight in a year.
As it did with many other things, the pandemic threw a wrench into those plans. What was supposed to be a single year became four before all was said and done, but he didn’t let the delay stop him.
“It took a while,” Edmondson said. “It started as a one -year trip, then COVID happened.”
He touched down in New Zealand in his initial attempt and got stuck. Eventually, he left his plane there and came home to wait out the pandemic, only returning to fly far enough to keep the plane in proper working order.
He landed on Friday in Zelienople to a well-deserved welcome.
Edmondson’s determination to persevere perfectly embodies the struggles faced by the entire globe throughout the pandemic. Everyone had to roll with the punches and simply do what would be best for the long term.
It’s a mentality we should attempt to preserve moving forward. Now that we’ve returned to relative normalcy, we can use the resilience we’ve built to continue working toward new goals.
Edmondson, for example, planned to climb back into the cockpit Sunday and fly “back to real life” at his new home in Texas, but also said he is planning his next adventure flight to Antarctica.
We applaud Edmondson’s determination, and encourage everyone to follow his example, whatever your goals may be.
— CM
