Qatar Executive, the business jet charter arm of Qatar Airways, held a private film screening in Doha, Qatar, this week to celebrate a record-breaking flight around the world via the North and South Poles. "One More Orbit" depicts the story of the fastest ever bipolar jet circumnavigation, taking just 46 hours and 39 minutes from July 9 to 11. The team successfully flew a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, making three 45-minute refueling stops in Kazakhstan, Mauritius, and Chile, exactly 50 years after man first walked on the moon.
Filmmakers expect to obtain a distribution deal on the festival circuit early next year, with plans to show it at U.S. events South by Southwest, Slamdance, Sundance, and Tribeca. Former NASA astronaut and expedition leader Col. Terry Virts; pilot Hamish Harding, originator of the idea; and Jim Evans of Untitled Inc., the film company that oversaw production, were all in Doha to hear Ettore Rodaro, executive v-p of Qatar Executive, say the flight had been an “amazing experience” for all involved.
“We have made history, by [achieving a] world circumnavigation speed record for [an] aircraft flying over the North and South Poles, in celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing,” Rodaro said.
