A local pilot has flown halfway across the world in a Cessna.

Together with his flight instructor Luke Penner, Chris Unrau and his son Adam crossed the North Atlantic in a Cessna 210, landing in Scotland on April 2.

The trip took them from Winkler to Hudson Bay with stops in Northern Quebec, Nunavut, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and finally into Scotland.

Views from the air never disappointed, Unrau says, "every day you wonder "how can we top this?" And it just keeps going."

"My thing is aviation, and I don't think everyone is cut out to fly over the North Atlantic, I'm still not convinced I am, but you have to do things that stretch you," Unrau says

However, the trip hasn't been without its challenges; the crew experienced a fuel shortage scare in Northern MB and poor weather grounded their craft in Greenland.

The biggest concern was the ocean crossings. The longest leg over water was three and a half hours, from Nunavut to Greenland.

"The whole time you're watching the gauges a little differently... it's a pretty lonely place up there," he says. "There's no one there."

Unrau quotes late aviator Art Petkau, "You can't fly a single engine over the North Atlantic and not believe in God."

"You can't fly a single engine over the North Atlantic and not believe in God."

The trip was documented by The One Life Project, a video series that documented the preparation and journey across the ocean in the hopes of inspiring others to live life to the fullest.

Unrau says the One Life Project found inspiration after Unrau's brother and nephew were tragically killed in a car accident, "God's only given us a certain amount of days, and He hasn't told us how many."

If anything, the trip has taught him barriers are only in the mind, "I catch myself walking out onto the ramp and looking at my airplane, and it's like, I flew here in my airplane. This is within reach, this is actually a small world."

The goal has always been to inspire others as well, encouraging viewers to overcome fear and live their dream.

"The Dover Cliffs were definitely a highlight," Unrau says

"My thing is aviation, and I don't think everyone is cut out to fly over the North Atlantic, I'm still not convinced I am, but you have to do things that stretch you," he says. "A lot of people live their lives trying to avoid any sort of discomfort."

Experiencing discomfort, he says, is part of achieving goals. In fact, the ripple effects of the project are already being felt. Unrau notes he has been receiving messages daily from people who've been inspired to change their destiny.

One farmer followed Unrau's trip on youtube and was so inspired he changed his management style, letting go of the fear holding him back.

In the end, Unrau says seeing more of the world only fills him with more wanderlust, "the more I want to see... as I turn over stones and find neat things under them, I just want to look for more."

"There's a lot out here," he says.

You can follow Unrau's journey here.

Unrau says having his son join him has been a joy, though "it's quite sobering when you're 15,000 ft over the North Atlantic and you have your kid with you."

Europe from the air