Commercial and aerobatic pilot Will Hosie is planning to cross the Channel in a novel fashion at the end of April.

In order to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Will intends to make the anticipated nine and a half minute journey from Dover to Calais inverted in his Christen Eagle II.

Flying upside down for that length of time is the task he has set himself as his contribution to his children’s charity endeavours, whihc involved kayaking and rowing across the Channel.

“Both my children have done it twice by rowing and kayaking,” says Will, “and they say I should do it before I’m too old!

“Between them my sons Wesley and Christian raised £10,300 for children suffering from leukaemia. Christian also made it into the Guinness Book of Records as he was only 13 at the time, the youngest ever to row across the Channel.”

In order to get himself ready for the trip, Will has been acclimatising to being head down by spending five minutes every other day on a contraption usually associated with helping people with back trouble, that rotates you into an upside down position.

Navigating upside down presents unique challenges of which he is well aware, as Will regularly does inverted triangular cross-countries for fun with a group of friends. “The aim is to get back to your starting point, which doesn’t always happen,” he says. “But we have a good laugh trying.”

The record for inverted flight is four hours and six minutes. “The pilot said it seemed like second nature after 15 minutes,” says Will.

Given that, his nine and a half minute hop across the Channel won’t quite give him a new perspective on flying, but hopefully it will raise a lot of money for a good cause!

If you want to support Will’s effort go to www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/william-Hosie

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