Shatters NYC-London Record By 35 Hours
During their attempt to break the around the world speed record
in an AgustaWestland Grand helicopter, pilots Scott Kasprowicz and
Steve Sheik have set a new speed record on the first leg of their
trip from New York City to London.
The record-setting flight covered 3,449 nautical miles and took
the crew 40 hours, 41 minutes... breaking the current record by
over 35 hours. The record of the flight will be submitted to the
National Aeronautical Association for ratification.
"We are thrilled to have broken this record. It's been an
exhilarating and exhausting first few days," said Kasprowicz after
landing at Red Hill, just south of London, early Saturday morning.
"We've experienced every possible type of weather condition
including rain, icing and strong head winds, and through each
challenging condition, the helicopter has performed exceptionally.
It took a lot of hard work and last minute coordination to make
this record happen and we appreciate everyone's efforts."
The pilots entered Russia on Sunday, the most challenging
portion of their record attempt, dubbed the "Grand Adventure." They
anticipate crossing the continent in 3.5 days and presently are on
schedule to enter the United States through Nome, AK. They will
travel through almost every state before landing back in New York
next week.
As of Monday, the crew had completed the first five legs of the
trip, which included 28 fuel stops and an overnight inspection at
AgustaWestland's facility in Cascina Costa, Italy.
As ANN reported, Kasprowicz and Sheik departed
from New York LaGuardia Airport for their history-making flight at
3:14 am on August 7, 2008. The journey will cover over 20,046 nm,
18 countries, 49 states and make 78 fuel stops in less than 2
weeks. The team will also look to break the Washington, DC to New
York record on the last leg of the world speed record attempt.
Unlike previous flights to break the world helicopter speed
record, Kasprowicz is performing this mission in his
factory-standard, executive-configured AgustaWestland Grand
helicopter. No mission specific modifications or additional fuel
cells have been added to the aircraft to improve performance.
"Everyone here at AgustaWestland would like to congratulate
Scott and Steve on shattering the New York to London speed record
in the factory standard AgustaWestland Grand," said Renzo Lunardi,
Senior Vice President Commercial Business. "We are tracking the
great progress being made flying across Russia and look forward to
your arrival back in New York and the setting of another world
record."
The helicopter's progress is constantly monitored in the Control
Centre by TracPlus USA using a Latitude S200 Sat phone/ terminal
transmitting regular position and status reports over the Iridium
global satellite communications network. This allows the control
center to know exactly where Scott and Steve are at all times, and
share that information instantly with authorities and supporters.
Real time tracking and more information about the Grand Adventure
is available at the FMI link below.