Donald Taylor

Who is Donald Taylor?

Donald P. Taylor is an American aviator, notable for being in the late summer and early fall of 1976 the first person in history to successfully fly a homebuilt aircraft around the world making him an Earthrounder. From an early age, he'd resolved "I will build an airplane, and I will fly it round-the-world." His plane, Victoria '76, a Lycoming-powered Thorp T-18 was fitted with improved communications and navigational equipment as well as a new fuel system after his initial 1973 round-the-world attempt had to be aborted due to bad weather between Japan and the Aleutian Islands. Taylor, who lived at the time in California, returned to his starting point of Oshkosh, Wisconsin a hero two months to the day after the 1976-08-01 start of his eastbound journey. The planning of this circumnavigation was especially complicated considering that both the Peoples Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were closed to U.S. general aviators at the time.

Taylor flew Victoria 76 to Australia and back in 1980. Taylor flew Victoria '76 to both the true North Pole and the Magnetic North Pole in 1984.