PARAPLEGIC pilot Dave Sykes has faced further battles with the elements as he attempts to fly by microlight from York to Sydney.

Dave, a member of York Flying Club at Rufforth, has told how he flew through such heavy rain in Burma that his pod also started filling up with water and he had to take off his visor so he could see.

Last week Dave, who is making the record-breaking 11,600-nautical mile journey through 18 countries to raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, passed through Calcutta, before he left India, flew across Bangladesh, and arrived in Kyaukpyu Myanmar, Burma, on Wednesday.

But he has since been trapped in Burma by heavy rain, thunderstorms and low cloud.

Mike Poole, a member of the flying club committee, said: “He has to cross some high mountains to reach Yangon but despite several attempts has not yet been able to make it.

“At the moment he is stuck in Thandwe but desperate to get out of Burma and into Thailand.”

Dave said on Saturday: “I tried three times today to get over the mountains to Yangon but failed.

“1,900ft on the first attempt, 1,000ft on the second and 800ft cloudbase on the last attempt.

“The mountains are 6,500ft tall where I need to cross. Having another go tomorrow.

“The rain here just has not stopped for days now.”

Dave said that with restrictions on the use of credit cards, he had just about run out of cash and needed to get to Thailand as soon as possible.

His journey, which has already been affected by violent dust storms over the Saudi Arabian desert, is being reported by the media in many of the countries where he lands.

Dave told a reporter at the Ahmedabad Mirror that the best part of his journey to date had been flying over the Saudi desert watching the camels go by.

“There was a sense of peace.” He said the worst part so far had been encountering sandstorms over the mountains in Muscat.