On May 1, a Robinson R66 will lift off from the heliport at Whistler, British Columbia, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Vancouver, to embark on a globe-spanning adventure.
The EPIC (Empowering People & Inspiring Change) Tour will travel to more than 40 countries, covering 18,600 miles (30,000 kilometers), before returning to Whistler 84 days later.
Flying the R66 will be Ruben Dias, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and Mischa Gelb, president of BC Helicopters. Diogo Dias will document the trip, taking photos from the passenger seats during most of the planned legs.
“Ruben’s passion is to see young people pursuing their dreams, and ideally becoming entrepreneurs,” Gelb told Vertical.
“We’re going to give talks all around the world, inspiring people to pursue a life of entrepreneurship. And we’re coupling that with healthy lifestyle. Both of us live a plant-based vegan lifestyle, and we’re passionate about that, because we feel that the health benefits make you a more vibrant person.”
Gelb is planning to make extensive use of social media to provide coverage of the trip, with videos every day — but Saturday — on his “Pilot Yellow” YouTube channel. Of German descent, Gelb’s last name means “yellow” in German.
Photo coverage will be on Gelb’s Instagram account — @bchelicopters.
The R66 normally flies from BC Helicopters’ base in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and will have some special equipment on board for the lengthy and challenging trip. New GPS avionics, Iridium satphones and a ferry tank will be installed, and the crew will carry life rafts and survival suits for the over-water legs. The entire trip will be flown under visual flight rules.
“There are some legs that we’re going to be right up to gross [weight],” explained Gelb. “There’s one leg in Russia that will be about 410 nautical miles and take over four hours. We’re going to leave Diogo behind on that leg, so he’ll be taking an airline over to Alaska. We’re going to need too much fuel to have him along.”
To make a passenger seat available for social media influencers who would like to experience a flight, gear will be pre-positioned — such as over-water survival equipment — to reduce the load in the R66.
And no big suitcases for the crew. “Honestly, each of us is going to have a small backpack. A couple of t-shirts, a couple of pairs of pants, and that’s about it,” said Gelb.
He expects that the R66 will be airborne for 75 days, with a total of 330 flight hours to complete the trip. Routine maintenance will take place in Boston, Massachusetts; Dubai; and Japan; and Gelb’s brother, Sancho, will fly out from BC Helicopters for “extended weekends” to take care of the R66.
More information can be found on the EPIC website, which will also have a live flight-tracker once the adventure is underway.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to go around world, someday,” said Gelb. “And when I told Ruben, he lit up and said, ‘It’s my dream as well — let’s do it!’ “
Excellent Article!
As an Entrepreneur, focused on my health, I am truly inspired by the EPIC World Tour Flight Crew and I look forward to meeting them in a few weeks.