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.
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