UNC alumnus sheds light on history of flight

In 1994, UNC alumnus Peter McMillan flew from England to Australia — and only crashed once.

The notoriety of the accomplishment lies in the aircraft itself: an exact replica of a 1919 Vickers Vimy biplane with an open cockpit and cotton-covered wings.

In its time, the original Vimy was the first plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean and flew from London to both Australia and South Africa.

Inspired by a magazine article, McMillan built a replica of the aircraft using the original blueprints and made the same famous flights as the first plane had nearly 80 years earlier.

McMillan — who serves on the UNC Global advisory board — spoke at the FedEx Global Education Center Thursday.

“We’ve all heard of the Wright brothers, we’ve all heard of the Lindbergh flight, we’ve heard of Amelia Earhart, but no one has heard of the Vimy,” said Daniel Lebold, director of development for UNC Global, who helped organize the event.

McMillan, who lives in London, works with UNC to endorse and promote global endeavors.

He donated nearly $25,000 to UNC Global last year and plans to do the same this year, Lebold said.

He said a portion of McMillan’s donation will be used to commemorate his Vimy adventure through a new UNC scholarship program.

The Vimy Global Team Award — which was announced as a surprise to McMillan last week — will give up to $12,000 each summer to one team of UNC students working on research or service projects outside the U.S.

Additional funding for the scholarship will come from UNC’s Global Education Fund.

“He is so passionate about international experiments and just wants to ignite the imaginations of our students,” Lebold said.

“But he understands that the resources are needed, so he’s helping provide the fuel that makes these initiatives possible,” he said. “He is so passionate about international experiments and just wants to ignite the imaginations of our students.”

McMillan said he’s always wanted to travel and saw recreating the Vimy expeditions as an opportunity to explore new places.
Four thousand pages of calculations and planning later, McMillan was ready to build the plane — but he needed money.

Sponsorships from National Geographic and Shell helped but weren’t enough, he said.

“The problem is that once you take somebody else’s money — particularly National Geographic’s — you have two choices: you either have to come back with a great story, or you have to die trying,” he said.

Money, disease outbreak and engine trouble all posed risks at different parts of the journey, but the plane finally completed three flights during 12 years.

McMillan said he hopes the presentation and continued donations will both help to publicize international opportunities and make them more available to students.

“This just demonstrates that you can start as a Carolina student and have these wild aspirations that can actually happen,” said Ron Strauss, executive associate provost and chief international officer.

“He shows you to just follow your dream, because your dream can take you to places you would never imagine,” Strauss said.

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