The Circle The Atlantic: Flight To End Polio journey is complete! Congratulations to Ed Galkin and Peter Teahen on this incredible feat! We are all proud of you and everything you have accomplished. We do not simply have hope... we BELIEVE we will see the end of polio.

Mike McFarlane, World President of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians (IFFR) extends well wishes to Flight To End Polio in this video. Thank you, Mike! Thanks also to João Figueiredo, IFFR Portugal President, for your continued support of the flight and assistance with getting this video created and shared with Rotarians!

Rotary Clube Lisboa Benfica in Portugal welcomed the pilots with open arms! More photos at: https://www.flighttoendpolio.com/post/rotary-clube-lisboa-benfica-portugal-september-22-2025

Rotarian greeting in Cascais, Portugal!

Flight To End Polio landing in Cascais, Portugal!

Thank you to our wonderful hosts in Bilbao, Spain!

Photos from the pilots visiting with and presenting to the Rotary Club of Hitchin Tilehouse, Hitchin, UK: https://www.flighttoendpolio.com/post/rotary-club-of-hitchin-tilehouse-hitchin-uk
Soon, the pilots will meet up with other Rotarians in Portugal!

Greetings from picturesque Wroclaw, Poland! The pilots recorded this video on September 14 but have since departed from Poland and will soon be landing in Duxford, UK. Safe travels, guys!

Visit our website: FlightToEndPolio.com
Facebook: Flight To End Polio

PRESS RELEASE:
Edison NJ, August 5, 2025

Flight to End Polio is excited to take off on a record-breaking flight, beginning on August 30th.

The flight titled, “Circle the Atlantic: Flight To End Polio”, is a part of an awareness and fundraising effort for the Rotary Global Polio Eradication Initiative. 100% of the proceeds raised are donated to the Rotary Foundation and matched 2:1 by the Gates Foundation for the purpose of eradicating polio. All expenses for the flight and presentations will be paid for by the pilots.

The 37-day flight over 8,800 miles includes 15 landings in 11 countries. Along the way, pilots Peter Teahen, of Cedar Rapids, IA, and Ed Galkin of Edison, NJ, will meet with media and speak at multiple fundraising events to encourage donors to give financial support. The flight takes off on August 30th from Central Jersey Airport. Technical support will be provided by Swisher, Iowa native John Ockenfels.

Upon the completion of this flight, Guinness World Records will officially recognize pilot Ed Galkin, 89, as the “Oldest person to pilot a single engine piston airplane across the Atlantic both Eastbound and Westbound.” In 2022, Galkin, at the age of 87, made aviation history for being the oldest pilot to fly around the world.

In 2023, Around the World: Flight to End Polio mission raised significantly more than $2 million dollars for Rotary Global Polio Eradication Initiative. That flight made 37 landings in 19 countries and flew the southern route across the Pacific, a feat accomplished in history by only 30 other flights. The pilots of that flight, Peter Teahen and John Ockenfels, have given more than 150 speeches and media interviews worldwide about the flight.

Visit our website: FlightToEndPolio.com
Facebook: Flight To End Polio

PRESS RELEASE
Edison NJ, August 5, 2025
Flight to End Polio is excited to take off on a record-breaking flight, beginning on August 30th.

The flight titled, “Circle the Atlantic: Flight To End Polio”, is a part of an awareness and fundraising effort for the Rotary Global Polio Eradication Initiative. 100% of the proceeds raised are donated to the Rotary Foundation and matched 2:1 by the Gates Foundation for the purpose of eradicating polio. All expenses for the flight and presentations will be paid for by the pilots.

The 37-day flight over 8,800 miles includes 15 landings in 11 countries. Along the way, pilots Peter Teahen, of Cedar Rapids, IA, and Ed Galkin of Edison, NJ, will meet with media and speak at multiple fundraising events to encourage donors to give financial support. The flight takes off on August 30th from Central Jersey Airport. Technical support will be provided by Swisher, Iowa native John Ockenfels.

Upon the completion of this flight, Guinness World Records will officially recognize pilot Ed Galkin, 89, as the “Oldest person to pilot a single engine piston airplane across the Atlantic both Eastbound and Westbound.” In 2022, Galkin, at the age of 87, made aviation history for being the oldest pilot to fly around the world.

In 2023, Around the World: Flight to End Polio mission raised significantly more than $2 million dollars for Rotary Global Polio Eradication Initiative. That flight made 37 landings in 19 countries and flew the southern route across the Pacific, a feat accomplished in history by only 30 other flights. The pilots of that flight, Peter Teahen and John Ockenfels, have given more than 150 speeches and media interviews worldwide about the flight.