Round-the-World Pilots Break Record

The N1US returned to New York's La Guardia Airport Monday morning, setting a world record for rotorcraft circumnavigation. Pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik have set three world records in 2008. Credit: AgustaWestland

The N1US returned to New York's La Guardia Airport Monday morning, setting a world record for rotorcraft circumnavigation. Pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik have set three world records in 2008. Credit: AgustaWestland

Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik are taking over the record books in 2008. First the pair broke the world record for a rotorcraft flight from New York to Los Angeles. Then, earlier this month, they set the mark for a flight from New York to London. On Monday, Kasprowicz and Sheik landed in New York after circling the world less than two weeks.

On Monday, August 18th, the pilots of the Grand Adventure 08 team landed at La Guardia Airport, having traveled 23,000 miles in less than two weeks. The flight traveled over 18 countries, 24 time zones, and 30 states while crushing the previous world record by four days.

The team, which consisted of six members, set the bar high for the flight, planning from the beginning to go 14 days. The previous record, set by Ron Bower and John Williams in 1995, was 17 days.

Kasprowicz and Sheik were resolute about certain aspects of the world-record attempt . They took a stance against modifying their helicopter, the N1US, an AgustaWestland 109 Grand. The craft is a twin-engine helicopter , normally for commercial and private use, and can seat five passengers.

The previous record holders, Bower and Williams, flew a Bell 430 with numerous modifications for long-distance flying. Most notably, the helicopter was outfitted with additional fuel storage and a bed, giving that crew a distinct advantage over a standard factory aircraft.

N1US can carry just over 200 gallons of fuel, about half of the capacity of the modified Bell 430. As a result, the team made 78 fuel stops along the way, an average of six stops each day of the journey. Without access to sleeping quarters on board, the team had to stop for naps rather than flying while one or the other rested.

After a week in the air, the record seemed almost guaranteed. The team made it to Russia with almost no problems. Despite a bit of choppy weather over the North Atlantic, the guys were ahead of schedule. They had already shattered one record—only 40 hours from New York to London—and had avoided any delays at airports. But, as expected, Russia threw some curveballs at the N1US.

In Okhotsk, Russia, the team was grounded for an entire day because of construction at one airport, and another airport running out of fuel. Although the delay allowed for some needed rest, it ate up valuable time. Things only got worse the next night, when an engine overheated, forcing Kasprowicz and Sheik to fly to their first stop of the day on one engine. After a round-table between the pilots, local mechanics, the ground crew back in Atlanta, and AgustaWestland engineers, the engine trouble was solved. A test flight was successful, but they were once again grounded until the following morning.

The pilots were essentially stuck for two whole days, putting their goal of two weeks in serious jeopardy. After all that, they were nearly denied clearance in Anadyr, Russia, a delay that would have cost them an additional two days. Crew member Harlan Hamlin, running ground operations from Atlanta, had to call the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, which helped the team gain clearance to take off with just minutes to spare.

With all that behind them, N1US crossed the Bering Strait Friday, and the going got a whole lot easier. The crew had home field advantage crossing North America, and kicked up the intensity a couple notches, sprinting across 30 states over the weekend.

An official flight time has not yet been declared—one calculation has the time at 11 days, 9 hours, while another has it at 13 days. Either way, the flight has set a new record, a testament to both the craft’s capabilities and the pilot’s endurance and determination. Kasprowicz and Sheik are recuperating from their two-week journey, but keep an eye on the pair—they could be aiming for another record by the end of this year.

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