A DARING fundraising plan to fly a microlite aircraft to Russia and back in three weeks turned into a flight from hell for a North-East man.

Part-time pilot and paramedic Jon Ker set off a week ago - with a co-pilot and another team - from Teesside Airport to raise cash for the air ambulance service.

But gale force winds and driving rain forced his microlite down to 100ft at times and the planned first leg to Perth took five hours instead of two.

John Everson, fundraising director of the air ambulance who is in daily contact with the pilot, said: "Jon rang on the first day. He said it was the most horrendous journey of his life.

"The next day they set off over the North Sea and had to drop to just 75ft above the water because of the driving rain. Jon said if the first day was bad, that one was even worse."

The next destination was Trondheim in Norway but again bad weather meant the teams had to drop to fly through fjords rather than over the hills, which would have been a quicker route

On Monday, one of the aircraft lost an engine as they headed into the Arctic Circle.

Mr Everson said: "They managed to get down safely in Tromso.

"It was only a small fault with the engine but it cut out, which could have been very dangerous."

Yesterday, the teams reached the most northerly part of Europe and are now facing the trip to Finland.

To coincide with the trip, a competition is being run for people to guess the number of miles Jon will travel.

To enter costs £1 and the prize is a trip in a microlite aircraft.

To take part, or to sponsor Jon, contact (01325) 487263.