Like many people, I’ve spent a lot of time this week checking for the latest updates regarding the Titanic submersible, which we (officially) learned yesterday had a sad ending, as it imploded. One of the most talked about people in the submersible was Hamish Harding, a British adventurer and billionaire.
Harding was the CEO of Action Aviation, a Dubai-based aircraft sales and acquisition company. As I was doing some research on him, I repeatedly saw mention of “One More Orbit,” which is a fascinating project he completed in 2019. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about this until now, but I spent yesterday night watching a documentary about it, and I think it’s something many OMAAT readers will enjoy.
“One More Orbit” documentary about fastest round the world flight
On July 9-11, 2019, Hamish Harding partnered with Qatar Executive (Qatar Airways’ private jet division) to set a new world record. Specifically, they aimed to beat the world record for the fastest round the world flight, passing over both the North and South Poles (that’s where the name “One More Orbit” came from). This was flown on a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER, and it was quite the effort.
This was intended to be a tribute to Apollo 11, as the journey started at Kennedy Space Center on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. The plane even took off from Kennedy Space Center at 9:32AM, exactly when Apollo 11 rocketed off. Harding partnered with former International Space Station Commander Col. Terry Virts on this, who flew along for the journey.
In addition to Harding and Virts, the crew otherwise consisted of three other Qatar Executive pilots, an engineer, a payload specialist, and a flight attendant.
The Gulfstream G650ER flew from Kennedy Space Center to Nur-Sultan, Kazakstan, to Port Louis, Mauritius, to Punta Arenas, Chile, and back to Kennedy Space Center, in under 48 hours. What’s so cool is that the documentary really gives you an inside look at how this all happened, from onboard the plane, to the control room in Doha.
There are two things that are probably most interesting about this:
- Of course to beat the record, nothing major has to go wrong; however, the much bigger challenge was making sure that the refueling stops on the ground were really fast, and that there was no need for deviations from the planned route
- The segment from Mauritius to Chile was the most challenging, as it was pushing the range of the plane, was in full darkness, and flew over the South Pole, where there are virtually no diversion points
If you’re an aviation geek, I guarantee you’ll enjoy this. This is such a fascinating team effort. Below you can see the trailer for the documentary.
Then below you can see a behind the scenes look at the project, which even features Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.
Then below you can watch the entire documentary. Alternatively, it’s available through Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube Premium, etc.
It’s kind of surreal to watch this after learning that Harding passed away from his latest adventure of trying to visit the Titanic. The quote “this mission is so important to me that I’m willing to risk my life” really gives you pause, given what all has happened.
His passion for aviation really comes through in this documentary. And of course it’s especially hard to watch in terms of seeing his son cheering him on, and seeing how proud he was of his dad.
Now, to be balanced, there are parts of the documentary that seem a bit self-indulgent. There are several mentions of how they are “expanding the limits of what humans can do,” and comparisons to what Magellan did 500+ years ago.
While there were some mildly risky aspects to this (not having diversion points over the South Pole), having access to a $60 million jet and the money to burn fuel to fly it nonstop for 48 hours doesn’t exactly seem comparable to going to outer space, or like one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But that’s just me.
This Titanic submersible situation is just wild
It seems that 80% of what the news has been covering the past week is the submersible that went “missing” earlier this week while trying to get to the wreckage of the Titanic. I don’t usually fall for these news crazes, but for whatever reason, this one got me really hooked.
Let me say that I feel horribly for the five people onboard who died, and especially for their families. Gosh, I can’t imagine the grief the families are going through for an entirely avoidable death (in the sense that these people just wanted an adventure).
I also understand a lot of frustration about how much media attention this story has been getting, and how extensive the rescue efforts have been, while hundreds of people are feared dead from a migrant ship that sank, and you hardly hear anything about that.
Yet I can’t help but watch the play-by-play of this whole situation. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but when people spend $250K to get into a submersible to the deepest depths of the ocean, all while it has no certification and there have been all kinds of concerns expressed about the safety of the submersible, well… it sure makes you scratch your head.
I guess some people just seek out bigger and bigger thrills in life, and sometimes it ends in catastrophe. There’s a certain irony to the Titanic claiming even more lives, over 100 years after it sank. Human curiosity really knows no bounds, and some people are willing to pay the ultimate price for that.
Then there’s so much drama beyond that, from an OceanGate advisor slamming the US government for their slow response and bureaucracy, to Harding’s stepson getting into an internet argument with Cardi B, and thinking he’s going to end her career. Anyway…
Bottom line
I don’t know how I hadn’t seen it until now, but “One More Orbit” is a captivating documentary about the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth, using a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER. The documentary features Hamish Harding, one of the people who tragically passed away on the submersible headed to the Titanic. If you have the time and like airplanes, I highly recommend watching this.
If you’ve seen “One More Orbit,” what did you make of it?
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