Submmitted. Chinook Helicopters Ltd. is pleased to host the Vancouver arrival of the first Russian round the globe helicopter expedition utilizing the Robinson R66 helicopter.
Those wishing to meet and greet the intrepid explorers may contact Chinook Helicopters Ltd. at 604-855-1100 or email chinook@chinookhelicopters.com for further information.
The event takes place Monday, August 26, 2013 at 12:00 pm.
Photo: Russian Pilot Dimitry Rakitsky. RIANovosti
From East to West – the First Russian Around-the-World Helicopter Flight
From RIANovosti
The first Russian around-the-world helicopter flight started on August 2. The flyers will cover 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) in 42 days.
The route covers almost every climate zone including those in the most remote corners of the world. The crews will fly two Robinson R66 helicopters over Norwegian fjords, the Atlantic Ocean, ice-covered Greenland and the mountains and forests of Canada. The expedition plans to fly over the volcanoes of Kamchatka, the Siberian taiga – the planet’s largest forest area and the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The northern, southern and westernmost points of Europe have also been included in the route.
In 2008, pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik succeeded in flying around the world in a helicopter in only 11 days 7 hours and 2 minutes setting a new world speed record.