DISABLED pilot Andy Lewis of Lydney has taken off on another flying mission with Flying Scholarships for the Disabled in a gruelling one day challenge.

Andy and his elite team flew in formation to every island around the British Isles with a landing strip, in just one day, raising over £32,500 for charity.

Even if there was not space to make a complete stop, the pilots were expected to touch down and regroup into box formation in the air.

26 year-old Andy lost his leg a couple of years ago after a tragic motorcycling injury in 1999 got progressively worse.

He won a scholarship from Flying Scholarships for the Disabled and was awarded his pilot's licence in 2007.

Since then he has continued with his passion for flying, getting a job with Airbus and flying regularly.

He was one of four co-pilots selected from more than 300 Flying Scholarships for the Disabled graduates for this unique mission.

Private businessmen lent two Piper Aztec planes and two Cessna 210s for the challenge.

Each plane was crewed by three people who took turns in the different roles. There was a pilot, a co-pilot and a navigator who had to put away all the maps after they had been used!

The planes took off at 4am from Jersey on Friday morning and flew up the west coast of the British Isles as far as Inverness, a distance of nearly 1,500 miles.

The planes had to refuel several times and Andy said the ground crew were so touched by the team's efforts that they donated sponsorship without even being asked.

Andy said: "They knew how hard our flight was and we were actually collecting more money as we were flying around.

"This challenge has never been done before, with four aircraft flying in formation and the level of concentration you need to do that is exhausting.

"I am absolutely knackered now, but it was a brilliant experience and a really go opportunity to see all the islands.

"Flying out of Jersey at 4am with the sun coming up in the east over the Isle of Wight and Jersey was absolutely beautiful.

"My real motivation was to support the work of Flying Scholarships for the Disabled and help to give other disabled people more confidence.

"I hope it has opened the eyes of a lot of disabled people to what they can achieve if they put their minds to it."

The challenge was arranged for the annual Pooleys Dawn to Dusk flying competition in which competitors must set themselves a unique aeronautical challenge.

The object of the competition is to encourage the most interesting use of a flying machine within the limits of competent airmanship and to demonstrate the capabilities of pilot and machine in a day's flying.

Organisers believe it is possibly the longest formation flight undertaken over Britain in a single day.

One of the highlights of the trip for Andy was an instrumental approach during the flight back home, while all the other crew on his plane were catching up on sleep!