Norman Surplus

[4] He left Larne on Easter Monday in 2019, and flew through Russia to eventually reach the United States and land at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon completing his circumnavigation of the globe in an autogyro.

[4] In a 2015 interview with the CBC, while on a stopover at Iqaluit, Canada, Surplus mentioned that the trip should have taken approximately four months but the problems with obtaining permission to fly over Russia, which persisted for three years, derailed his plans.

[8] During his 2010 trip, his overflights included France, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Japan.

[3] Surplus considered various other circumnavigation routes, but, in 2014,[13] he finally decided to ship the autogyro to Tacoma, Washington from where it went to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, to be stored for the winter.

[7] On 1 June 2015, Surplus resumed his flight around the world starting from Oregon, flying through Wyoming and other US states, Canada,[2][10] and across the North Atlantic, by way of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

[4] He launched the final stage of his world trip, by leaving from Sandy Bay,[13] on Easter Monday in 2019, flying through Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia, before eventually entering Russian airspace.

[8] He flew 5,000 miles (8,000 km) through Russia, and on 28 June 2019 he landed at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, United States, completing the first physical circumnavigation flight of the world in an autogyro.

[4][6] However, dogged by the lengthy diplomatic delays, it had eventually taken 4 years and 28 days to complete the entire circumnavigation, so the flight was no longer deemed eligible for setting a first Official FAI "speed record" around the world.