PARAPLEGIC microlight pilot Dave Sykes has told how he thought his “time was up” after encountering a sandstorm during his brave attempt to fly from York to Australia.

Dave, 43, a member of York Flying Club, who took off from Rufforth Airfield on April 28 on a record-breaking bid to fly more than 11,600 nautical miles to Sydney to raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, was attempting the latest leg of his trip from Saudi Arabia to Qatar on Saturday.

He said: “A sandstorm got me today, with nowhere to go or land, and I couldn’t turn back. Visibility went to zero and nowhere to land, just sand dunes.

“I had to sit there, trying to find my way out. The only way was up. I was really scared, thought my time was up.”

Dave, from the Dewsbury area, said the sandstorm cleared eventually, although he was left covered in sand, and he had now reached Doha in Qatar. He is understood to have been staying there until the sandstorms die down.

Flying club committee member Mike Poole said a “flex-wing microlight’ was physically very demanding to fly in rough conditions, as the pilot was controlling the whole of the large wing with nothing more than muscle power.

“Dave cannot use his feet for the ground steering as is normal, so his aircraft is modified to allow him to ground steer by hand,” he said.