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A GRAND AERONAUTICAL FIRST

IN SEARCH OF PARTNERS, SUPPLIERS, SUPPORTERS, FRIENDS…

AN UNPARALLELED HUMAN ADVENTURE

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A first in the history of aviation : a complete aerial tour of the Arctic Circle in 80 days An international media event: : a combined ecological message and extreme sports event An heroic humanitarian action : a fight against multiple sclerosis for the benefit of research Yes, there are still challenges to be met. Great firsts still to be pursued. Unknown territories to be conquered. Around us and within us. For ourselves and for future generations. These are the mountains that the Polar Kid expedition will be trying to move. But flying over them comes first. Before they melt.

A new ambition to share

BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE

THE ARCTIC WORLD TOUR

A grand aeronautical first

Touring the globe at the level of the Arctic circle is an aeronautical adventure that has still never been

• tried. The world has had to wait 90 years after the fjrst aerial world tour by Lowel H. Smith and Leslie P.

Arnold for an aviator to pursue this challenge. Frenchman Loïc Blaise will set off in May 2017 aboard the Polar Kid, a microlight seaplane measuring 9.725 m and weighing 310 kg (empty). The choice of this microlight but also ultra-clean aircraft is naturally justifjed by the ecological concern of preserving the Arctic sanctuary. At the cutting edge of technology, Polar Kid only requires 3 US gallons to travel 100 nautical miles at 175 km/h. Fuel consumption lower than most of today’s city cars. Russia, United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Loïc Blaise’s seaplane will fmy over all Arctic countries.

To build up their resistance to the cold, while flying and filming under conditions that are extremely difficult for the body, the pilot, support pilots and cameramen will have to complete several survival courses before the expedition starts. Together, they’ll prepare for the difficulties that they may well encounter. Polar Kid will complete its Arctic World Tour in the spring. This will provide for constant daylight at the Pole in order to fly at all times, based on weather windows. Loïc Blaise and his team will therefore have to manage their rest like athletes. Faced with uncertain and unforeseeable meteorological conditions, manually flying a seaplane requires unwavering concentration and an unfailing ability to make decisions. It will be a genuine sports challenge to maintain control for nearly 80 days in a row, covering 20,000 km in the cold and wind. An average of 500 to 800 km will be flown each day, at temperatures between +10 and -15 on the ground, and up to -30 in flight. Guaranteed chills.

An extreme sports event

AN 80-DAY FLIGHT ROUND THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

The 20,000 km of the Icy World Tour will be fmown at low altitudes. An ideal opportunity to fjlm the Far North from the sky. This fjlming under extreme conditions will provide a visual record of all of the majestic glaciers, becoming a part of humanity’s memories. At the same time, an appraisal of their thaw and of their progress will also be prepared. Though a great fjrst, it’s also regrettably a potential last. Spread over almost 3 months, the fmight will include some 30 stopovers. As such, the Polar Kid expedition will seek out the peoples of the Arctic Circle as well as isolated scientists in research stations. The cameras will also naturally take many precious photos of an exceptional but potentially vanishing fmora and fauna. More than a documentary, the Polar Kid’s odyssey will be both an adventure fjlm and the adventure of a fjlm.

A general public adventure film

THE FAR NORTH SEEN FROM THE SKY

To build up their resistance to the cold, while fmying and fjlming under conditions that are extremely diffjcult for the body, the pilot, support pilots and cameramen will have to complete several survival courses before the expedition starts. Together, they’ll prepare for the diffjculties that they may well encounter. Polar Kid will complete its Icy World Tour in the spring. This will provide for constant daylight at the Pole in order to fmy at all times, based on weather windows. Loïc Blaise and his team will therefore have to manage their rest like athletes. Faced with uncertain and unforeseeable meteorological conditions, manually fmying a seaplane requires unwavering concentration and an unfailing ability to make decisions. It will be a genuine sports challenge to maintain control for nearly 80 days in a row, covering 20,000 km in the cold and wind. An average of 500 to 800 km will be fmown each day, at temperatures between +10 and -15 on the ground, and up to -30 in fmight. Guaranteed chills.

An international media event

A MULTIMEDIA ODYSSEY: FILM, TV, AUGMENTED REALITY

The media interest will certainly extend to the people making up the expedition. First in the spotlight will be the 38-year-old pilot, who imagined and organised this event. An instructor, demonstration pilot and airline pilot, Loïc Blaise is a member of Aviation Sans Frontières and a winner of the Patrick Fourticq

• prize. He was the world’s youngest pilot to qualify to take the controls of a PBY Catalina seaplane when

multiple sclerosis robbed him of any fmying licence other than a microlight aircraft. This prompted him to undertake an historic fmight that would attract public opinion regarding the need to support research against the illness that affmicts him. This same determination to be useful is also found in the application on which he is currently working, that is intended to help with the autonomy of other patients. Monitoring of overall physical and cognitive condition, as well as fatigue. The idea is to allow them to manage their pathology as one would manage an incident in fmight. Indeed, for Loïc Blaise, multiple sclerosis is like managing a constant breakdown. The wind and cold are nothing next to that. The controls of the Polar Kid are in good hands.

An unparalleled human adventure

A UNIVERSAL MESSAGE OF FIGHTING SPIRIT AND HOPE

To help him in his “Child of the Pole” odyssey, Loïc Blaise was able to quickly attract people from a variety of horizons and to establish a team that immediately bonded around his project, in support of its common interest: Patrick Louis, 57 years of age. He’s the glue keeping Loïc’s wings together. Airline pilot, instructor, former fjghter pilot and member of the Patrouille

de France, he has supported Loïc from the very fjrst days of his illness, and will continue to do so in preparation for this mission. His assistance also includes an upstream understanding of the risks that will have to be assessed and managed.

Antoine Arribe, 30 years of age. One of Loïc’s former students and an aeronautical engineer, he provides the team with his qualities as a pilot and

a person. Co-pilot of the Polar Kid, he shares in the spirit of mentoring that is one of the key basics of aviation.

Mark Holmes ,45 years of age. Mark began his adventure and took his fjrst fmying lessons in Northern Ireland in 1993. With a passion for seaplanes,

his training continued in the United States. Mark is now the President of the Ulster Seaplane Association. Mark will fmy the seaplane providing the mission’s logistical support.

Alain Maire is the expedition’s linchpin. From the Paris base, he provides the logistics preparation and follow-up. His speciality is aerial operations

involving historic aircraft, and mission follow-up: a Catalina for South America, a DC3 for New Zealand, warbirds for Lucasfjlm… along with many other

• accomplishments. Out of fuel in the middle of Siberia? Alain will arrange a fuel truck drop by parachute. Tested and verifjed.

Gaspard Thiekaro, 26 years of age. Cameraman, photographer and reporter, adventurer at heart, Gaspard spent eight years travelling back roads

from the Sahara to the foothills of the Tian Shan. He shares Loïc’s fundamental desire for travel.

Denis Tribaudeau, 47 years of age. Extreme conditions survival expert, great traveller since his fjrst steps, Denis is a font of natural enthusiasm. He’s

preparing the team with survival scenarios involving desert and hostile zones. He’s the author of the book “Survie, mode d’emploi”.

A team with shared values

ONE FOR ALL!

The purpose of the Polar Kid flight is not just to raise international public opinion about the expected disappearance of the Arctic’s great glaciers. Nor just to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research. It’s also dedicated to the world’s children in long-term hospitalisation. The Loïc Blaise Life Odyssey association intends to involve them in his undertaking and to give them the same hope and energy as the Polar Kid’s pilot when it comes to fighting the illness. It encourages them to have a project and to look to the future while making an effort to save the planet, their planet. With the ability to monitor the adventure’s progress through reports that will include enhanced reality, they will be honorary citizens of the currently fragmented territory that the seaplane will bring together

• n its circular flight. The “Polar Kids” will be his ambassadors for reaching out to friends, relatives, and the

entire world. It is in their name that the expedition’s members will seek out the inhabitants and researchers

• f the Far North. For Loïc Blaise, this humanist initiative is not an expression of solidarity when dealing with

the illness. “Since the days of Aéropostale, aviation has brought people together”. Thinking globally means acting globally. And flying to our own rescue, the rescue of the future.

An innovative humanist action

THINK GLOBAL. ACT GLOBAL

The Polar Kid expedition is supported by the Fondation A. de Rothschild. The Foundation shares in the values of the Life Odyssey association and encourages its efforts in favour of the young patients in its own paediatric ward, and throughout the world. Recognising his efforts to encourage research through an exemplary action, it is looking after the physical preparation of Loïc Blaise. It will also provide him with constant medical monitoring for the duration of the Polar Kid expedition. And any that come after that.

An initiative dedicated to young patients

WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE FONDATION A. DE ROTHSCHILD

The Life Odyssey association created by Loïc Blaise is intended to encourage or accelerate projects undertaken by people suffering from debilitating pathologies. These projects must meet two criteria: helping their initiator to overcome the handicap,including a social and socially responsible impact. At the crossroads of the worlds

• f aeronautics and medicine, the Life Odyssey association is driven by the obligation of best intents that

characterizes these two pillars. Life Odyssey is a multidisciplinary meeting place for professionals from the fjelds

• f aeronautics, medicine, research, development, design, companies... This community of high level skills is

deploying its humanist and interdependent spirit in order to provide constant operational support to project leaders, while therefore contributing to the overall and cross-functional approach encouraged by its initiator. Polar Kid is a “fmagship” operation for Life Odyssey. Its visibility and strong message are intended to help the association to build a network of partners and experts in order to ensure its long-term sustainability. The fjrst Life Odyssey call for projects will be in the autumn of 2016.The association also supports social entrepreneurs and is assisting with the development of Runway, a smartphone and tablet application intended for people with autonomy diffjculties and the people around them.

HANDICAPABLE!

LIFE ODYSSEY 11 quai des Moulins, 67 000 Strasbourg, France - POLAR KID Mission project manager: Loïc Blaise lo@life-odyssey.com - +33 6 88 184 693 - life-odyssey.org