They Missed It By THAT Much

They're back home, and the numbers are in... but they're not the numbers Jared Isaacman and his team were hoping for.

After hours of calculations, the support team for Isaacman's attempt to set a new world record for a round-the-world flight in a Cessna Citation Mustang light jet determined Sunday the total flight time was 84 hours and 5 minutes.

The team notes those unofficial numbers may change a bit when tallied by the AFI... but it looks like Isaacman's team missed the record by 1 hour and 11 minutes.

That's still an impressive time...made even more so when one considers the hurdles Isaacman and his two teammates had to overcome. As ANN reported last week, the flight had to be restarted from Qatar, after their first attempt was thwarted by a curious determination by officials in India, to deny the aircraft permission to land coming in from Pakistan.

That may have proved to be a fateful event... as at that time, the team was on track to beat the record by over 10 hours.

The second attempt saw its share of hangups, as well. Higher-than-expected winds and longish ground delays in India and Thailand conspired to put the team back nearly three hours at one point, and the team missed a tight window to arrive at the airport in Anadyr, Russia... forcing a quick diversion to Adak, AK.

In the end, however, the apparent failure to establish a new speed record falls a distant second to another goal of Isaacman's flight: to raise money for a charitable organization close to the pilot and businessman's heart. That part was an unqualified success, according to the team.

"We are so proud of Jared and his crew - record or not, this was an amazing undertaking," read a statement on Isaacman's website. "In addition, they have raised nearly $50,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey."

That's another achievement to be proud of, no matter what the final time turns out to be. Well done, guys.

FMI: www.speedaroundtheworld.com