A blind adventurer* is bidding to fly from Britain to Australia to raise US$1.9 million to fight preventable* blindness, he said on Friday.

Miles Hilton-Barber, who has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and completed a marathon* in Siberia, is now hoping to become the first ever non-seeing aviator* to complete the 21,700-kilometer journey which will take him over the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. The 55-year-old is taking to the skies in a microlight*.

“When I was 18, I applied* to be a fighter pilot but was later rejected due to poor eyesight,” he said, before the start of the journey Monday.

“Now, 37 years later and blind as a bat, I have this wonderful opportunity to fly more than halfway across the world.”

Hilton-Barber is flying alongside a sighted friend and hopes to complete the journey within 55 days.

He is raising money for the Seeing Is Believing charity*, which works against preventable blindness in the developing world.