Arctic Insanity: 4,300 miles over the polar ice cap by helicopter

The hair-raising tale of adventurer Jules Mountain’s bid to cross the Atlantic in a lightweight helicopter with a maximum range of 300 miles. The only way was over the polar ice-cap, which made the quest even more perilous 4,300 miles over the polar ice cap by helicopter ‘A swashbuckling, page-turning, rip-roaring ride across the roof of the world’ Adrian Bleese, author of Above the Law When a friend told Jules Mountain he’d bought a helicopter in Canada and would need to ship it home to the Channel Islands by container, Jules thought that sounded crazy. Why not just fly it? Actually there were lots of good reasons. The lightweight aircraft had a range of 300 miles, was neither pressurised nor supplied with oxygen, and could fly for just three hours before running out of fuel. Whereas the shortest feasible route was 4,300 miles across the polar ice cap, with stretches across water that would take up to five hours to cross. It sounded impossible for even the most experienced pilot, and Mountain had only been flying helicopters for three years. But he’d never been one to duck a challenge…so he volunteered for the job. Arctic Insanity is the hair-raising story of what happened next, as the madcap adventurer battled extreme cold, zero-visibility whiteouts and near-misses with icebergs – landing along the way in some of the harshest places on earth – in his bid to get the aircraft (and himself) back to Europe in one piece. ‘A true Boy’s Own adventure for the modern age’ – Daily Express When a friend told Jules Mountain he'd bought a helicopter in Canada and would need to ship it home to the Channel Islands by container, Jules thought that sounded crazy. Why not just fly it? Actually there were lots of good reasons. The lightweight aircraft had a range of 300 miles, was neither pressurised nor supplied with oxygen, and could fly for just three hours before running out of fuel. Whereas the shortest feasible route was 4,300 miles across the polar ice cap, with stretches across water that would take up to five hours to cross. It sounded impossible for even the most experienced pilot, and Mountain had only been flying helicopters for three years. But he'd never been one to duck a challenge...so he volunteered for the job. Arctic Insanity is the hair-raising story of what happened next, as the madcap adventurer battled extreme cold, zero-visibility whiteouts and near-misses with icebergs - landing along the way in some of the harshest places on earth - in his bid to get the aircraft (and himself) back to Europe in one piece.