Polly was born in 1944 at Dartmouth in Devon England. She became a physiotherapist,
married her husband Peter, became Polly Vacher and raised three sons, Julian, Clive
and Brian. At the age of 45 she began to skydive for charity making 245 jumps. This
led her to become interested in flying and in 1994 she received her private pilot's
licence followed by an instrument rating in 1997.
She purchased a 1994 Piper Dakota Model PA28-236 (G-FRGN), flew it across the North
Atlantic to America where she met up with husband, Peter and then flew around the USA
and Canada before returning to England flying solo.
Polly departed from Birmingham International Airport England on January 12, 2001
flying easterly on a round-the-world flight covering 29,206 miles in 124 days. She
visited 27 countries where she gave talks raising awareness for the Royal International
Air Tattoo Flying Scholarships for the Disabled. On this circumnavigation round-the-world
flight she faced a variety of challenges which drew on her courage and aviation skills.
Her flight progress was monitored on the internet. Later in 2003 Polly would make another
round-the-world air tour flying westerly landing on all seven continents and flying over
the North Pole and then to Antarctica.
Itinerary
Departed England (Birmingham International Airport) 01/12/2001
Europe
Mid East
Bombay India 02/10/2001
Calcutta India
Bangkok Thailand 03/05/2001
Madan Indonesia
Australia 03/08/2001
Sydney Australia 03/31/2001
New Caledonia 04/11/2001
Fiji
Pago Pago
Christmas Island 04/15/2001
Hawaii 15H 45M
California
Colorado Springs CO
St. Louis MO
Dayton OH
New York NY 05/06/2001
Arrived England (Birmingham International Airport) 05/17/2001