It's a feat that's never been completed before: "Red" Baron Tayler is flying non-stop on a four month journey across the country, but not in a plane-- in a powered parachute. And on America's birthday, Tayler brings a whole new meaning to Independence Day.

"You've broken that bond with the earth, you're flying along," says Tayler of time in his powered parachute. But it's not just freedom in the air that motivates Tayler to keep flying.

"I had to set down the other day because of wind, I knock on the door, you don't know what to expect," says Tayler, "they invite me in, make us this big breakfast, this is what makes America, these are the people that make America run." Unlike any powered parachute pilot before him, Tayler took off from the deck of an aircraft carrier in California and unlike any pilot before him, he'll make the trek across the country, landing on the USS Yorktown in Pennsylvania-- in a flight that'll go down in the history books.

And his mission isn't just to get people hooked on the sport, "I can scour the ground, looking for something much better than any other aircraft, beside maybe a helicopter," says Tayler, "I'm promoting the use of powered parachutes to help police, fire and search and rescue crews."

It wasn't until he was in a life-threatening situation, that Tayler realized it was time to live his life to the fullest. "I almost died of an aortic aneurysm seven years ago-- you say to yourself, wow, there's a lot of things I still want to do," says Tayler, and that's when he took up powered parachuting.

If you're interested in learning more about Tayler's journey or donating to his cause, check:
www.redbaroncoasttocoast.com
www.pcefoundation.org
www.ellass.org

Tayler will be in action out at Billard Airport for the next few days, near the Kansas Air Center doing demonstrations around 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning.