ROUND the World adventurer Manuel Queiroz is back on track again after being held up by paperwork and immigration issues during his bid to beat a world record for flying solo around the World.

Manuel, 59, who lives in Pirton, near Pershore, is currently flying from the American island of Hawaii, to San Jose in California, but last week he encountered the second major hold up in his trip.

The first came very early into his trip when he travelled from Malta to Luxor, Egypt. Manuel had planned to fly on a course that followed the River Nile, but the Egyptian Air Traffic Control would not allow it. He ended up having to take a different route which meant he lost some of the time he had made in the previous days.

The latest setback occurred when the Portuguese pilot arrived in Manila on day 8 of his challenge. He had planned to stay the night in the Philippines and carry out the first service of his aircraft since he set off.

He did have some help in servicing his aircraft, a single engine Van Grunsven RV6, from a maintenance crew at the airport but ended up staying an extra day when paperwork again got in the way of a smooth journey.

Project Manager Graham Shimmin said: "He was going well and was actually ahead of time before the delays. He has lost some time but is still within reach of the record and we are hopeful."

After reaching California, Manuel will fly to Texas to pick up an immersion suit should his plane go into the water, then on to North Carolina, Canada, the Azores and his home land of Portugal before jetting back to where he started at Staverton Airport in Gloucester.

Manuel set off from on Tuesday, February 28 and has so far flown over four continents and touched down in Malta, Egypt, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii.

He has taken on the trip not only to beat the round the world flight record, but also to raise money for charity. All the money raised from the trip will go towards Cancer Research UK who helped save Manuel's life when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer.