Flying a Quarter of the Way Around the World in a New Bell 505 Helicopter - Ep. 1 (Bahamas)

[@misothecat]

I thought u were gone, disappeared for such a long time!! Glad to see u r back! Great content, looking forward seeing more!

[@CriticalAngle]

I’m back baby! The rest of this trip to Brazil definitely has some interesting moments so stay tuned!

[@johnfriend862]

I've been waiting 5 years for this one Ian, thanks. Too bad about losing everything before this.

[@CriticalAngle]

You and me both! The trip gets pretty wild once we get into South America. Keep an eye out for it!

[@Sean-wu9ve]

WHOOAAAA!! Was NOT expecting to see Critical Angle posted a video when I opened up youtube, but I’m here for it!!

[@CriticalAngle]

Happy to surprise you friend!

[@TEAM6USA]

Man, you have balls of steel . Outstanding mission!

[@joshuagilley1]

7500 ft at sea level is crazy

[@PTRRanger951]

I worked with a guy that wore a bracelet like your co pilots. Has little screw drivers and wrenches on it. He was a crew chief on a gunship in Vietnam. He probably still wears that bracelet.

[@realfootball338]

Where do you changing compressed air for start engine ? Or helicopter has its own compressor ?

[@SkyBaum]

Man I'd really love 💙 to get into those types of flights. Got any viable advice on how to go about? Amazing 👏 video 📹 btw 🙂

[@CriticalAngle]

Hey, glad you liked it! Honestly, I got really lucky with right place, right time on this one. The owner of the company I used to work with had connections in Brazil since he used to do a lot of ferry flights there from the U.S. back in the day. He offered up the flight to me and I jumped on it. The 505 was a brand new airframe at the time, I think it had only been out for a year. The owner of the aircraft gave me one of his training slots so I got to go to the Bell Training Academy the week before we left on this trip so at least I had experience and training in the aircraft prior to this. If international ferries are something you want to get into, I'd imagine it's hard to break into doing the first one unless you know someone. It's tough work. Lots of stress, planning, and problem solving. It was a great experience, but I don't think I would recommend doing it on the regular.

[@oisiaa]

Was this cheaper than shipping it?

[@CriticalAngle]

Believe it or not, cheaper and faster. South American governments are kind of notorious for corruption. If you ship it on a boat, they’ll hold it up in customs at the docks for up to a year and demand a ton of fees. You skip all that flying it in and it’s a nice little break in period for the aircraft. Plus, it has to be disassembled and re-assembled for transport. Brand new aircraft can be a little spooky to fly since there’s often little issues from the manufacturing process that might not be apparent until they’re flown for a while.

[@oisiaa]

Very interesting. Also a great learning experience for the new pilot. @@CriticalAngle

[@SilentRoses]

My intrusive thoughts would have me pull the rotor break mid flight. This is exactly why I'm not a pilot

[@CriticalAngle]

Must.....not......pull......THE LEVER!

[@FINNIUSORION]

were you guys going for the slowest modern trip? lol

[@CriticalAngle]

Hah yeah man it was agonizingly slow. Like 110 knots. Felt like we had a headwind most of the way too.

[@mattdaddy_888]

How long did that take as compared to a commercial jet?

[@CriticalAngle]

Hah, oh boy it's not even close. We are so much slower and we have to stop much more often for fuel. Going through customs/immigration with all those different countries is really what adds a lot of time. The entire trip took us about 2 weeks in the helicopter. Shortest flight option I'm seeing on a commercial airliner is just under 16 hours.

[@herbertbroady126]

🌸 'Promo SM'

[@rt0110]

Will you current employer allow you to film in flight?

[@CriticalAngle]

Possibly 😉