Pilots tell of global adventures
The pilots who recently flew a Bell 407 around the world via the North and South Poles were at the show yesterday to retell how they accomplished the feat.

The pilots who recently flew a Bell 407 around the world via the North and South Poles were at the show yesterday to retell how they accomplished the feat. Jennifer Murray, an artist whose pilot husband got her interested in flying at age 55, and Colin Bodill, a career helicopter pilot (currently freelance), arrived back in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 23, after 171 days traveling 32,206 miles over 26 countries, with 101 fuel stops along the way.

The pair were full of praise for Bell and their trusty machine, which “performed faultlessly… starting the first time despite being full of snow for six hours.” The aircraft was also ideal for the two-mile altitude at the South Pole, with its powerful tail rotor allowing takeoffs in 60-knot winds, and for traversing Drake’s Passage to Antarctica.