Richard Meredith-Hardy

Richard Meredith-Hardy (born 1958) is a British microlight pilot with two World Microlight Championships. He has been flying microlights since 1984 and has competed at several European and World championships. He holds several records;

he became the first man to fly over Mount Everest in a microlight aircraft on May 24,2004

December 31 2005, Over Aconcagua expedition. Towed a hang glider over Acongagua, Argentina, the World's highest mountain outside the Himalayas, 6,962 m / 22,841 ft.

January 6 2006, Record aerotow Towed a hang glider to 28,849 ft / 8793m over Rivadavia, Mendoza province, Argentina, the highest so far.

March-April 2007, London-Sydney expedition. With very few days notice, flew a P&M GT450 microlight with blind co-pilot Miles Hilton-Barber from Rhodes, Greece to Sydney, Australia for the charity Seeing is Believing via Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. 18,133 Km in 48 days (33 flying days) including more than 4,000 Km over open sea

January 2008, Kilimanjaro; Roof of Africa expedition. Flew over Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (19,340 ft) twice with David Barker and Fons Nijenhuis. On the same expedition Mark Jackson and Eve Jackson flew the aircraft to a new World altitude record of 7395m (24,262 ft) and World record climb to a height of 6000m of 25 min 48 sec.

He has also appeared on Blue Peter in October 2002 as an Aerial cameraman for successful dual hang glider altitude aerotow record attempt by Judy Leden & Matt Baker.

He has also won several awards for his acheievements:

April 2002, Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club, Awarded“for outstanding achievement in aviation”. Only the 67th ever awarded, fellow recipients include W & O Wright, L. Bleriot, Alcock & Brown, Alan Cobham, Amy Johnson, G de Havilland, Armstrong, Aldrin & Collins....

December 2004, Steve Hunt Memorial Trophy (3rd time) for outstanding microlight achievement by the British Microlight Aircraft Association in recognition of the success of the Over Everest Expedition.

January 2005, best of ExplorersWeb awards. 3rd place, By their performance, the awarded expeditions have proved themselves outstanding in all or most of the following: Courage, Determination, Persistence, Self reliance, Ingenuity, Pioneering, Idealism, Comradeship, Compassion, Respect towards competition, Honesty.

February 2005, Britannia Trophy (2nd time) Presented with the Royal Aero Club's premier award by the RAeC's President, The Duke of York For the British Aviator or Aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in Aviation during the previous year. Only the 60th time it has been awarded in 92 years

February 2006, University of Central England Received the honorary award of Doctor of the University (D Univ) from UCE Birmingham in recognition of distinguished aeronautical achievements

October 2006, FAI Gold Air Medal; one of FAI's two highest awards, it is reserved for those who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics by their activities, work, achievements, initiative or devotion to the cause of Aviation. Only the 10th Briton to receive the award since inauguration in 1924, previous recipients include Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager, Sir Frank Whittle, Yuri Gagarin, Steve Fossett....

May 2007, Awarded a 'Framed address' by The Air League; Presented by HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh at St James' palace for an outstanding contribution to aviation, his many achievements with Microlight Aircraft and, in particular, in recognition of his amazing flight over Mount Everest in a Microlight Aircraft

January 2008, Wiley Post Award from the Wiley Post Heritage of Flight Center, Oklahoma City, USA jointly with Brian Milton. The award gives national and international recognition to an individual in General Aviation, who best exemplifies the engineering and innovative pioneering spirit of Wiley Post. In particular, to someone who hasn't the financial support of either the government, or of a large corporate backer.