 Pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik - cold, but happy. Pic: AgustaWestland/Douglas Sonders/Handout
August 20, 2008 10:16 PM
By Gary Crosse
NEW YORK - Of all the around-the-world records in existence, traveling around the globe in a helicopter might seem to be one of the more obscure.
Yet when American pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik returned to New York's LaGuardia Airport early on Monday, the two appeared to have smashed the previous round-the-world speed record for helicopters by about six days, according to representatives of the helicopter's manufacturer.
Billed as "The Grand Adventure," Kasprowicz and Sheik completed their journey in an unofficial time of 11 days, seven hours and one minute.
The mark has been submitted to the National Aeronautical
Association, a non-profit group that oversees and certifies
aviation records in the United States, for verification, which
is expected to take another day or so.
"It feels great. My body does not feel the same on the
ground. It will be great to get home," an exhausted but
exhilarated Sheik said by telephone.
The 37,000km journey took them through some rough
weather and over mountainous terrain.
The helicopter, an executive version of the 109 Grand built
by AgustaWestland, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica, was state of
the art but not specially modified for the trek.
Planning was key to breaking the record set in 1996 by Ron
Bower and co-pilot John Williams, who flew a Bell 430 around
the world in 17 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds.
The previous record flight took off from the United Kingdom
but both crews flew similar routes due to the many refueling
stops.
"Devising a route is the first issue, as are altitude and
range," Sheik said, adding that the copter's highest cruising
altitude was 3500m, which subjected it to relatively
low-level freezing in the northern climes.
"You don't have the ability to climb above weather," he
said. "The air cools as you climb and in northern climates, the
freezing point is reached sooner ... We also had no anti-icing
capability."
From New York, the pilots charted a path that took them
across the far North Atlantic, over Greenland, Iceland, the
Faeroe Islands then across Britain into Western Europe, and 14
time zones in Russia, until finally crossing the Bering Strait
into Alaska, before flying home across North America.
While Sheik was proud of the achievement, he said it did
not compare to those of such early aviation luminaries as
Amelia Earhart or Charles Lindbergh, who performed
long-distance flying feats with much simpler aircraft.
"It isn't fair to compare us to the pioneers of aviation,"
he said. "But when looking at the logistics of planning about
80 flights, leg after leg, that's where the achievement is."
(For details about the record-setting flight, see:
http://www.grandadventure08.com/)
(Reuters Life!)
|
