Air 1st Aviation Companies, Inc. - Specializing in in the Mitsubishi MU-2 Turbo-Prop

(803) 641-9999

Saturday, August 24, 2013
I will be departing from Aiken, SC tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, so as you can imagine, there are a lot of little loose ends to tie up before departure. For an update of my scheduled stops, please click on the trip itinerary. N50ET is ready to go and equipped with the new MT propellers. I'd like to thank the team at CTS for hanging with me to have every last little detail addressed, and they certainly have presented me with a perfect airplane. At this stage, I would like to make mention of some people who have supported me on the trip, unsolicited, through their kindness and generosity. I received a very kind phone call from Mr. Dave McCredie, of Piper McCredie Insurance, earlier in the week followed by a very generous donation. Creighton Scarpone from Garmin, who we met at the MU-2 fly-in, organized for Garmin to support me with a worldwide database on all installed and portable equipment for the around the world flight. In addition, I have received support from Standard Aero and Global Aerospace, and in particular, I'd like to thank Mr. Tom Chappell of Chappell Smith & Associates, who has supported in numberous ways. BaseOps has been a tremendous support and has worked Mike-and-Anne

closely with my assistant, Leah Kadar-Hodd, whom I'd also like to thank, as they've ensured that all the little details are covered--everything from Visas, accommodations, transportation, handling, fuel releases, etc. so I wouldn't have to worry about them.

I also want to thank Air 1st Aviation employees Jeanne Lowther and Ricky DuBose for their hard work and support. And of course, all of this would not be possible without the backing and blessings from my lovely wife, Anne. (in photo on the left). Anne enlisted the help of Jeanne and Leah to organize a wonderful--and very much a surprise--Bon Voyage party at the Aiken FBO last Sunday.

My first stop tomorrow will be to pick up Mike Collins in Frederick, Maryland. To track our progress, you can go to https:share.delorme.com/MichaelLaver which will be updated every 10 minutes while we are in flight.