Polly Vacher (born 1944) is an English aviator specialising in long-distance solo flights. She was awarded the MBE for services to charity in 2002. She lives in Oxfordshire. Born in south

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, she trained in physiotherapy and spent twenty years in music education. Her interest in aviation developed from a charity

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...

event. She obtained her

private pilot licence A private pilot licence (PPL) or, in the United States, a private pilot certificate, is a type of pilot licence that allows the holder to act as pilot in command of an aircraft privately (not for remuneration). The licence requirements are dete ...

with her husband Peter in Australia in 1994 and they followed this up by a circumnavigation of the continent. In 1997 she toured the United States by plane, flying solo across the North Atlantic in both directions. Her first ''Wings Around the World Challenge'' in aid of the charity Flying Scholarships for the Disabled was in January–May 2001 when she made a solo eastbound

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Mage ...

of the world in her single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee Dakota G-FRGN, the smallest aircraft flown solo by a woman around the world via Australia, including a 16-hour segment from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. On 6 May 2003 she set out from

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...

on a ''Voyage to the Ice'' for the same charity, flying over the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, Antarctica and all seven continents, returning on 27 April 2004, becoming the first solo woman flyer over the polar regions. On 21 May 2007 she set off from Birmingham Airport on her ''Wings Around Britain Challenge'' in which she landed at all the airfields in the Jeppesen VFR Manual, between 21 May and 31 July 2007. 221 airfields were visited, flying in 158 flying hours. Ninety-six disabled passengers were flown on legs of the flight.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vacher, Polly 1944 births Living people People from Devon Members of the Order of the British Empire British music educators British women aviators British women music educators