Watsonville Flyer Completes Solo Around-the-World Flight at Watsonville Airshow

No title The Watsonville Airshow marked the end of an around the world dream flight for Watsonville’s own Bill Randolph. Bill flew his homebuilt experimental Van’s RV-9 around the world because “he wanted to”. “I met a lot of wonderful people and would do it again anytime” said Bill. The flight planning started in November 2004 and continued as part of the trip. Bill said “I hadn’t received all of my approvals to land, but I had most of them and I took off in March anyway. Along the way there a few mechanical delays, but Bill didn’t set a tight schedule so there wasn’t any issue with the delays.

I had the chance to interview Bill briefly at the Watsonville Airshow. He has been flying since 1946 and has accumulated approximately 3500 hours. A modest man, he seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal. The rest of us know that it is.

After he gets caught up (he was gone for three months) he plans on writing about his adventure. We can’t wait to read it. Welcome home Bill, and well done.

Bill Randolph and his RV-9