11-Day Flight Beats Previous Attempt By Nearly Six Days

They did it! Pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik succeeded in flying around the world in a helicopter in only 11 days, seven hours and two minutes -- setting a new world speed record.

The pilots broke the current record by almost six days, with an average speed of 74 knots over the entire 11 days while regularly flying at 160 knots between refueling points. The record of the flight will be submitted to the National Aeronautic Association for ratification.

Kasprowicz and Shiek flew the former's AgustaWestland Grand helicopter covering 18 countries, 24 time zones, 49 states, 78 fuel stops and almost 21,000 nautical miles in less than 12 days. As ANN reported, the two also set a New York to London speed record, flying that leg of the trip in just over 40 hours and breaking the old record by 35 hours.

The aviation duo arrived at New York's LaGuardia Airport Monday morning, bringing to a close their "Grand Adventure" around the world.

"We are so glad to be back home. This has been the trip of a lifetime and is a remarkable achievement for all of us. We had some challenging situations, especially in Russia and the planning and coordination at each control point was key to our success," said Kasprowicz after landing at LaGuardia. "The support we received from AgustaWestland around the world was unprecedented and their employees went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure every detail was taken care of. We pushed the aircraft to its limit and this trip is a true testament to the Grand's superior performance."

Unlike previous flights to break the world helicopter speed record, Kasprowicz performed this mission in a straight, factory-standard Grand -- with no mission-specific modifications or additional fuel tanks added to improve the aircraft's performance.

"Congratulations to Scott Kasprowicz, Steve Sheik and the support team from everyone at AgustaWestland for setting an outstanding new around-the-world flight record," said Renzo Lunardi, Senior Vice President Commercial Business of AgustaWestland. "We have watched with amazement the progress of N1US around the globe and we are delighted that the AgustaWestland Grand performed as well as the crew -- averaging around 2,000 miles per day is an incredible feat. I am sure this is a record which will stand for many years."

During their 11-day journey, Kasprowicz -- who is also the former Deputy Secretary of Transportation of Virginia -- and co-pilot Sheik traveled eastbound across the Atlantic into Europe via Greenland, traversed western and eastern Europe into Russia, crossed 11 time zones in Russia, returned to North America over the Bering Strait crossing the US and returning to New York City.

FMI: www.grandadventure08.com