Russians Flying R66s on Vast Round Robin

Four Russian pilots took off last month from Moscow in a pair of Robinson R66 turbine singles for a 30,000-nm round-trip to New Zealand taking them over Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and various Pacific islands en route followed by a return flight that transits through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey and Ukraine. The pilots anticipate making 85 takeoffs and landings at 78 airports. The group describes itself as a “non-profitable, non-charitable, purely private and deliberate flight of two Robinson R66 helicopters from Moscow to New Zealand and back [with a] crew of four private pilots, traveling on their own without any support from anybody.”