ONE Hong Kong eclipse-chaser in Britain hoped to beat the danger of the country's famously bad weather by viewing the eclipse from above the clouds. David Tang, who works as a solicitor in London, planned to take some friends up in his light aircraft and fly along the line of totality as it passed across the south-western edge of England. But a delay in getting back from a business trip to Hong Kong meant he was not able to get his Piper Arrow four-seater aircraft into the air in time. 'I learned to fly more than 10 years ago and for my training I learned about navigation and a little bit about astronomy so I was really looking forward to seeing something that I have read so much about,' said Mr Tang. So instead of being able to see the full eclipse of the sun, he had to settle for a view from the roof of his London office, where the moon obscured 97 per cent of the sun. 'I could see the moon eating away at the sun and it became quite cold. It did not get as dark as I had expected but all the same it was a very special feeling,' he said. Staring up into the heavens made him think about the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. 'Looking at the moon and the sun made me wonder what was beyond them and I had a feeling that there must be something else up there. I felt there can't just be us here on earth - there must be something else way out there in the eternity of space,' Mr Tang said. But he regretted his missed opportunity to see the eclipse from above the clouds. 'I was really looking forward to seeing it in the air and I really regret missing it now. If I could turn the clock back I would definitely make sure I could have got back from Hong Kong much earlier.' But what he did manage to see only increased his enthusiasm to find another opportunity to witness a full eclipse. 'There's bound to be another chance somewhere else in the world. I only hope one day I will be able to see the real thing,' he said.
