The Grand Adventure is about breaking a record.  Pilot Scott Kasprowicz and co-pilot Steve Sheik will fly 20,000 nautical miles, crossing every meridian on the globe, in an effort to break 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.

The current 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.

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.

Advance planning for such a mission is inherently limited by the vagaries of wind, weather, equipment failure, local aviation law, holidays, business hours, and other political and cultural factors, all of which will require constant route evaluation and recalculation.

Much of the route will be through uncontrolled airspace, with the two-man crew solely responsible for their own navigation and safety.  When flying in uncontrolled airspace, Kasprowicz and Sheik must depend on their own expertise with aviation maps, as well as constantly monitor the aircraft's numerous navigation, weather monitoring, operating, and safety systems in flight. 

The two-man crew will depart from New York and head east - different from previous flights which have flown westward - beginning in mid-July, taking advantage of the first good weather window for the first over-water segment from the U.S. to Europe. In fact the flight plan has the team flying through all 49 states on N. America and even the District of Columbia pending special permission of the Dept. of Homeland Security (since 9-11, sever restrictions to aircraft operations around the Nation's Capital have been put in place).

Stopping only for fuel, required maintenance checks, refueling and rest, N1US will head through western and central Europe, crossing Russia last before heading home. Covering 12 time-zones and comprising one-sixth of the earth's land mass, Russia is sparsely populated.  Civilian aviation is still an anomaly and there is little ground support available in Russian territory, making this the most arduous and complicated portion of the journey.

Even though the flight is in high summer, the aircraft and its crew will have to endure ambient temperatures ranging from below freezing to well over 100°F, and must adjust flight systems to optimize the performance of the aircraft throughout the extreme range in temperature and humidity.  As portions of Siberia and Greenland are within the polar ice cap, freezing temperatures could ground the mission indefinitely.

The last lap takes N1US from Nome, Alaska back to New York, itself a distance of over 4,000 miles, but miles where the language, customs, and facilities are played on the "home field".  Earlier in 2007, Kasprowicz and Sheik broke the transcontinental record in N1US, so they are confident that, by flying east to west, they can make up lost time in the Final Four (thousand miles).

The genesis of the idea for the Grand Adventure '08 occurred in 2005 at HeliExpo when Scott Kasprowicz was first introduced to the Agusta 109S Grand. Having flown fixed wing aircraft for over 30 years and his own Bell 407 helicopter for nearly 8 years, Scott was already an accomplished pilot.  Aviation had always been a passion for Scott and in the Grand he saw a level of sophistication and performance which he knew was unparalleled in other rotorcraft.  The most significant capabilities of the Grand were its speed and extended range.  Scott immediately recognized that owning and flying an Agusta Grand would present opportunities to expand his aviation horizon and would permit him to indulge his aviation curiosities.  With the Grand he could fly the challenging missions he had been contemplating for years – including an attempt to set a new world circumnavigation speed record.

The first step in accomplishing his mission was ordering the Grand, which he did that year.  The second was assembling a team to help support the new aircraft and its mission to fly around the world.  Scott formed a company he called Rotor1US Aviation and hired Steve Sheik as the company's Director of Flight Operations.  Scott and Steve worked for nearly a year designing the layout of the avionics for the new Grand as its fuselage was assembled in Italy.   Scott took delivery of the aircraft in July 2007 in Milan, Italy.  After completing  certification training in Europe, Scott and Steve flew the new helicopter, tail number N1US, back to Scott's home base in Washington, D.C.   Not only was it the first Grand to be flown across the North Atlantic, it was the first Grand to be stationed in the United States.  Since arriving in the United States, helicopter N1US has been busy flying a range of commercial, recreational and adventure missions.

As Scott and Steve embark on their world circumnavigation mission, the Grand Adventure will have been over two years in the making.  Since 2006, Scott and the extended Grand Adventure team have been actively assembling information, researching the latest in avionics and satellite communications systems, coordinating with foreign aviation authorities, building a flight operations command center, optimizing route plans, improving the operating efficiencies of the Grand's cockpit configuration, making contacts for sponsorship, and working to anticipate the myriad of details required by an international aviation record attempt.   The preparation for the Grand Adventure 08 mission has been a true team effort which would not be possible with out the contributions of each team member. 

Scott Kasprowicz, Pilot

E. "Scott" Kasprowicz is a successful entrepreneur, business leader, community activist, father and aviator who most recently served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia as part of Governor Tim Kaine's administration.  In that position Scott was responsible for all rail and aviation in the Commonwealth.   While working in Richmond, Scott oversaw the upgrade of the Commonwealth's aging fleet of aircraft and developed comprehensive guidelines and goals for the aviation group's safety and maintenance requirements.  In addition, Scott helped to draft and lobbied for the passage of legislation that changed the nature of future housing developments throughout Virginia.

Prior to joining the Kaine administration, Scott was the founder and CEO of communications services provider TEXEL Corporation, which he ran for twenty years.  Prior to its sale in 1999, TEXEL grew from two employees working from home to a national enterprise with 12 field offices and over 500 employees.  In 1988, "Inc. Magazine" rated Texel 95th in the country's top 500 fastest growing companies.  Mr. Kasprowicz has won numerous national and local awards for business achievements, community leadership, and philanthropic efforts.  A pilot for over 30 years, Scott has had a life-long interest in aviation.  As founder and president of ROTOR1US Aviation, with Steve Sheik he recently set a new speed record for transcontinental flight in a helicopter from New York to Los Angeles, breaking the old record by nearly four hours. 

In addition to Scott, the Grand Adventure's team roster includes:

Steve Sheik, Director of Flight Operations

Steve Sheik began his aviation career in 1992.  Steve currently holds an Airline Transport Pilot license with ratings as a Certified Flight Instructor and Instrument Flight Instructor.  Steve most recently left a position as an Instructor Pilot with the Maryland State Police where his duties including providing training for and conducting Medevac, search and rescue, and law enforcement missions.  His flying career has included operations in several regions of the U.S. including Alaska and he has planned and flown several lengthy helicopter missions

including a number of cross country and international ferry flights.

Harlan Hamlin: Director of Ground Operations and Flight Logistics

Chief Logistics Officer GA'08.  Harlan's expertise and effort was pivotal in the success of all ground operations, telecommunications, fuel and maintenance logistics, including bringing Natalia on-board to facilitate communications with the Russian aviation authorities, as well as to handle ground arrangements throughout the Russian segments of the mission.
As President of TracPlus USA, Harlan Hamlin is responsible for leading the company's American operations.  Harlan has significant experience in sales and marketing, strategic partnership, alliance-building and business strategy functions in aviation technology and wireless communications. Harlan is a private instrument, multi engine rated pilot with over 5,000 hours of flight experience. In his career, he has held senior positions with Satellink Technologies, AT&T Wireless, and Verizon Wireless. Harlan's expertise is focused on sales, marketing, business development and pioneering solutions and technologies in the aviation and wireless data business.

Natalia Nizker, Coordinator of Russian Operations

A native of Saratov, Russia, Natalia is responsible for ground logistics details for the Russian portion of the mission.  The flight over Russia includes 19 fuel stops, 4 overnight stops, 9 time-zones and the requirement that a Russian official be on board at all times.  Natalia, who is multi-lingual, is a graduate of Saratov State University with degrees in both linguistics and foreign languages.  In addition, she attended the State University of NY, Old Westbury where she received a B.S. in childhood education and American studies.   Natalia will continue her education by enrolling in a Master's program in general psychology at Walden University starting in the fall of 2008.  When Natalia is not working for the Grand Adventure she is an elementary school teacher in Georgia. 

Bruce Labovitz, Director of Business and Brand Development
Bruce Labovitz is an avid aviation enthusiast and long-time friend of Scott Kasprowicz.  The two first met when they worked together on a voice-over-IP based telecommunications start-up in 1999.  Bruce has served as a communications and business consultant for the Grand Adventure working closely with Scott to develop the brand that the Grand Adventure is and continues to become. In that capacity Bruce has worked with Scott to develop the business of the Grand Adventure and position it for growth over after the successful world circumnavigation mission. 

Outside the Grand Adventure, Bruce serves as Chief Financial Officer of Comstock Homebuilding Inc. (NASDAQ: CHCI). During this tenure in that position Bruce has directed the company's transformation from a privately held company to a public traded entity, successfully executing an initial public offering and raising in excess of $300 million in debt and equity to fund company expansion.

Donna Hickman, Logistics Support and Administration

A part-time member of the ROTOR1US team, Donna is responsible for handling administration and assisting with ground logistics.  Donna, who is a native Northern Virginian, has a background in finance/bank management which she uses to help Scott manage the finances of the Grand Adventure.   Outside of her role on the Grand Adventure team Donna spends her time caring for her family, writing for the local county newspaper, sitting on the board of the PTA and volunteering for local charities.