The Grand Adventure
The Grand Adventure is about breaking a record. Pilot Scott Kasprowicz and co-pilot Steve Sheik flew 20,000 nautical miles, crossing every meridian on the globe, breaking the current record for circumnavigating the globe in a helicopter.
What's more, the helicopter is a factory-stock Agusta Grand with no mission-specific special equipment on-board.
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is the manufacturer of the Agusta Grand helicopter.
The earlier record was set in 1996 when Ron Bower and co-pilot John Williams flew a Bell 430 around the world in 17 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds. The team traveled 20,508 nm with 165.1 total flight hours.
The new record, set by Kasprowicz and his team, is 11 days, 7 hours and 5 minutes.
On this podcast you will hear directly from Scott Kasprowicz about the "Grand Adventure." And perhaps you will, as you listen, recall Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days"!
For Kasprowicz and Sheik, The Adventure is not just about setting a record, but about doing it without the aid of specialized equipment, chase planes, or other extraordinary assistance—it's about pushing themselves and the aircraft to the limit.
Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland were delighted on the selection of the Agusta Grand which has now set the world record for circumnavigating the globe and also the New York to London helicopter speed record.
Download finmeccanica_podcast_35_around_the_world_record_by_helicopter.mp3
