page_title: Maurice Wilson
section_title: Solo flight to India
hierarchical_section_title: Maurice Wilson / Solo flight to India
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die ersten Flugzeuge vom Typ De Havilland D.H.60 Gipsy Moth der Línea Aeropostal Santiago - Arica und danach der Línea Aérea Nacional Español: Aviones Havilland Gipsy Moth de LAN-Chile
context_page_description: Maurice Wilson MC was a British soldier, mystic, mountaineer and aviator who is known for his ill-fated attempt to climb Mount Everest alone in 1934. Often characterised as "eccentric", he wished to climb Everest as a platform to promote his belief that the world's ills could be solved by a combination of fasting and faith in God. Despite his lack of mountaineering or flying experience, he succeeded in flying from Britain to India, surreptitiously entering Tibet and climbing as high as 6,920 metres on Mount Everest. However, he died in his attempt, and his body was found the following year by a British expedition.
context_section_description: Wilson planned to depart for Tibet in April 1933, but was delayed when he crashed Ever Wrest in a field near Bradford. He was unhurt, but the crash caused damage to the plane which would take three weeks to repair, and added significantly to the press attention he was receiving. It also attracted the attention of the Air Ministry, which forbade him from making his flight.
  Ignoring the Air Ministry's ban, Wilson finally set off on 21 May, and remarkably, and in spite of the best efforts of the British government, he succeeded in reaching India two weeks later. On his arrival in Cairo his permission to fly over Persia had been withdrawn. Undeterred he flew on to Bahrain, where he was refused permission to refuel on the orders of the British consulate, which explained as all the easterly airstrips within his aircraft's range were in Persia, he could not be allowed to continue. He was allowed to refuel when he agreed to retrace his route and return to Britain, but once airborne he turned his plane towards India. The airstrip at Gwadar, the most westerly in India, was not actually within his aircraft's range, but almost precisely at its limit; after nine hours in the air Wilson arrived with his fuel gauge reading zero. Having arrived safely in India he continued across the country, but his flight ended in Lalbalu when the authorities reiterated that he would not be allowed to fly over Nepal, and impounded his plane to prevent him from trying.
caption: Gipsy Moth aircraft, similar to the one Wilson flew to India
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