Transatlantic helicopter flights are not for the faint of heart

Three dots appeared in the rainy October sky above the Istra flying club, gradually turned into helicopters and landed in an even line. Three crews of amateur pilots completed the world's first transatlantic flight in light single-engine Robinson R44 helicopters. The flight crew is the president of TK Orion Alexander Kurylev, the general director of the construction company Ortus Nikolai Kuznetsov and the president of the Aviamarket company Sergei Filonov. The flight was led by a professional, chief pilot of Aviamarket, Dmitry Rakitsky.

Why did they need this? They say they wanted to feel that they were capable of much. “For ten years, my life resembled Groundhog Day - work, home, work,” explains Nikolai Kuznetsov. “And then we did something that rarely anyone can do: we saw half the earth and realized how “greenhouse” we are. During the flight, all the husks fly off. Over the ocean, I asked my partner if he thought about death. The answer was affirmative, and I realized that it was right to think from time to time not about increasing capital, but about really important things.”

The initiator of the flight was Sergei Filonov. Seven years ago, he bought a helicopter, which he was offered to transport “under his own power” from the USA to Russia. “The dealers ditched me then,” admits Filonov, “but I was excited about this idea. Now the owners have arrived in two helicopters, and we bought one for the club.”

The R44 model, produced by the Californian Robinson Helicopter Company, is the most popular in its class. It has good speed, excellent visibility, low noise and vibration. In terms of complexity of operation, it is comparable to a car and is considered the most reliable and safe in the world. But, having learned that the buyers were going to fly over a body of water of about 2,500 km without an accompanying sea vessel (by the way, parachutes are not installed in the helicopter, there is no point in them), the manufacturing company did not give permission for the flight. Like, you'll spoil all the statistics for us.

Nevertheless, having carefully developed the route, the team began the journey. From the Pacific coast, from Los Angeles, through the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains and Niagara Falls, the pilots headed to New York, and then to northeastern Canada. “We completed our studies while flying,” says Rakitsky. “We had a day of mountain training, since the helicopter does not fly over high ridges, and a rehearsal of what to do in case of a crash over the ocean.”

After Montreal, forests and swamps, uninhabited territories and a harsh climate began. Communication is only satellite, there is practically no weather information. The path from Canada to Greenland turned out to be the most psychologically difficult. At this stage, the team lost one of its members: he returned to Russia on a scheduled plane. Perhaps he did not dare to overcome the Gulf Stream, where the presence of warm currents and cold air masses leads to constant changes in weather conditions.

A dangerous situation arose over the Greenland glaciers when a fuel tube flew out of a mid-air refueling system. Landing on the glacier was dangerous, so one of the team members had to go out on a helicopter ski mid-flight to refuel the tank.

The crews covered the entire route to Russia in two weeks, crossing the borders of other states on a notification basis. And here we were stuck for two months. Not because of customs, but because of the peculiarities of the legislation. This turned out to be the only case in five years of crossing the Russian border at such a low altitude, so permission from the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Air Transport Agency was obtained with great difficulty.

However, pilots are convinced that the helicopter is the transport of the future, giving a feeling of freedom. Alexander Kurylev, the 2006 absolute world champion in airplane aerobatics, used to feel like a “teapot” in a helicopter. Now he explains the difference: “The difference is the same as between a car and a motorcycle. A helicopter, like a motorcycle, is more maneuverable. He doesn’t need space to accelerate, and getting there, even in the Moscow region, is much easier.” For Sergei Filonov, this is a way to shorten distances: Seliger is 6 hours by car, and only an hour by helicopter. Considering the size of our country, you can visit the most inaccessible places where there are no roads. “It’s even nice to fly for mushrooms,” Filonov laughs. — In general, flying is valuable in itself. We're just having fun." The next goal of amateur pilots is to travel around the world in helicopters.

Get off the ground

Anyone can learn to fly a helicopter. Training at the Istra flying club (a division of the Aviamarket company) consists of two stages:

16 flight hours. After this, the cadet is able to lift the helicopter into the air and land it, but is not allowed to fly independently. 250,000 rubles.
26 flight hours. The cadet gains the skills of precise piloting, navigation and action in any situation. Pilot certificate. 350,000 rubles.

The price includes training materials, fuel and instructors. Duration of training is about 3 months.

Before (or instead of) training, you can take an introductory flight on a Robinson R44 helicopter or give such a gift to a friend. Duration – 30 minutes, cost – $370. Since the helicopter is 4-seater, for this money you can fly three people.

Intelligence:

The length of the route is 15,700 km through the territories of 10 countries
Number of flight hours - 88
Longest non-stop flight (Greenland - Iceland) - 550 km
Helicopter cruising speed – 210 km/h
Gasoline consumption – 30 l per 100 km

The total cost of the flight for three crews is $70,000
The price of one Robinson R44 helicopter is $550,000

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