Latitude Technologies SkyNode S200 Voice and Tracking System Supports Record-Setting Transcontinental Rotorcraft Flight
February 19, 2008On Saturday, February 16, 2008, N1US, an Agusta Westland A109S Grand Helicopter, piloted by owner Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik, broke the transcontinental rotorcraft world speed record with an all-inclusive flight time of 15 hours, 9 minutes, and 10 seconds. This time was almost four hours better than the previous record. The record-setting New York to Los Angeles flight included six refueling stops at staged intervals in the flight plan.
N1US is equipped with Latitude Technologies’ SkyNode® S200-021 satellite voice and tracking system, which played a key role in real-time tracking and reporting of position and status of the helicopter throughout the flight and particularly in the minutes leading up to each refueling stop.
Thanks to the tracking accuracy of the SkyNode S200-021 and the reliability of Latitude’s Sentinel web-based mapping and reporting system, the N1US ground crew was able to feed position and ETA information to each fueling station, and confirm the position of the fuel truck for the flight crew on landing. This allowed for fuel stops as short as only four minutes. Latitude’s Sentinel system also maintained a live-stream data interface to Flight Vector who provided live weather and route planning maps for the ground crew.
Sending his heartiest congratulations to Pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik, and the entire N1US ground crew during this record-setting flight – including Latitude’s own Harlan Hamlin, VP Business Development, who volunteered for the day, Latitude President, Mark Insley, spoke on behalf of the entire Latitude organization in saying “We are absolutely delighted to have had the chance to contribute to success of this record-setting flight. We salute the flight crew and the ground crew for a job very, very well done.”
About Latitude Technologies
Latitude Technologies Corporation, headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is a leading supplier of avionics voice and data equipment and services including the SkyNode S200-021 – the smallest, lightest, most versatile and economical to operate voice and 2-way data communication device in the world, featuring autonomous and host-polled asset positioning, sensor/event relay, and email and custom messaging interfaces.
For more information about this historic flight or about the SkyNode S200 family of voice and 2-way data communication devices, contact:
Latitude Technologies Corporation
Tel: 888-966-5599, ext. 1
Email: info@latitudetech.com