Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> Washington Post photo  (click to enlarge) Members of the Grand Adventure Team are reunited in New York after pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik completed what appears to be a successful attempt to break the record for circumnavigating the globe in a helicopter. They did it in 11 days, 7 hours and 2 minutes. Shown are, from left, are Harlan Hamlin, Kasprowicz, Sheik, Jessie Sheik, Donna Hickman and Jackie Ferko.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008 Helicopter tours the world in 11 days If confirmed, the feat, with an average speed of 85 mph, will smash the old record by several days. The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- Before setting out to fly 24,000 miles over about 20 countries, at a pace to challenge the speed record for circumnavigating the globe in a helicopter, it's best to inform your credit card company. That was the lesson two Washington-area pilots learned when a fraud alert was put on their account after they bought fuel in five countries in the first two days of their journey. An assistant in the United States cleared up the matter, and the duo completed the trip, landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Monday morning, 11 days, 7 hours and 2 minutes after taking off. Although trip details must be confirmed, the two men are widely believed to have set a record. Around the world in 80 days? Jules Verne's got nothing on these guys. "It's a remarkable achievement for these two pilots and for helicopter pilots around the world," said Jonathan Gaffney, president of the National Aeronautic Association, which certifies and compiles U.S. aviation records. He said such feats are more common in airplanes, which generally fly at higher altitudes and can go farther without refueling. "But flying around the world in a helicopter is a totally different animal," he said. "It showed a lot of guts. It is not something you see happen every day." The trip was the brainchild of Scott Kasprowicz of Middleburg, Va., a former Virginia deputy secretary of transportation and a former telecommunications executive, who footed the bill. Kasprowicz bought the AgustaWestland Grand copter a year ago in Italy and flew it home with his co-pilot, Steve Sheik, a full-time corporate pilot and a former flying instructor for the Maryland State Police. The team believes the trip broke speed records on the New York to London leg and for the entire trip, although they care more about the second record. Trip details must be confirmed before the honor is bestowed, but Kasprowicz said he and Sheik soundly beat the previous record of 17 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes, which was set in 1996. Although pilots like to brag about elapsed time, the record is stated in terms of average speed for the trip. Kasprowicz and Sheik had an average speed of about 85 mph, according to figures submitted to the NAA. The previous record was about 57 mph. The trip took about a year to plan, Kasprowicz said, and he estimated that it cost him "several hundreds of thousands of dollars." He guessed that he and Sheik had slept an average of two hours a night and said they ate only four meals on the ground. The other meals, some no more than granola or trail mix, were consumed in the air. Kasprowicz said the most remarkable part of the trip was the "condensed and compressed view of the world" he and Sheik got from touching down in so many landscapes and cultures. He does not see another trip on the horizon, he said. "I'm not sure there is a trip I can identify right now that would be in the same league as this," he said. "It was the ultimate helicopter adventure."

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