PARAPLEGIC microlight pilot Dave Sykes had an armed guard and police help for part of his epic trip from York to Australia.

By Sunday, he had reached Bangladesh after enduring sandstorms and fears for his safety during his crossing of the sub-continent countries.

He is aiming to be the first paraplegic to fly a microlight aircraft from England to Australia.

The sandstorms meant Dave, a member of York Flying Club, made a bumpy landing in Gwadar, Pakistan.

He said: “I couldn’t believe it; I was in a sandstorm again. Just turning lifted me out of my seat.”

He landed safely, but the wind lifted him out of his seat as he landed, then turned his aircraft over, into a ditch by the side of the runway, from where he had to be rescued from the airfield by airport workers.

For his safety, the uninjured Dave was escorted to a car with blacked-out windows, which travelled in convoy with a 4x4 vehicle, containing four guards armed with machine guns. “You couldn’t have dreamt this up,” he said.

“You only see it on TV. It doesn’t happen to you.”

The next day, after spending a night in a hotel with an armed guard outside his door, he set off to Karachi, flying down the west coast of India, which he said was “a very beautiful landscape”.

He landed successfully in Karachi, next to the airport police, who surrounded him and helped stow his aircraft for the evening.

By nightfall on Friday, Dave had reached Raipur, India, after an eight-and-three-quarter-hour journey from Ahmadabad.

He said: “It was just starting to drop dark so the landing lights were on for me, but would you believe it the battery in my camera died on final approach. Ten minutes after I landed, the most amazing storm came through, with light shows and rain that you would not see in England.”

To view Dave’s blog, and track his journey online, go to soloflightglobal.com