Longstanding Light Jet Speed Record Falls

Twenty-six-year-old New Jersey businessman Jared Isaacman, along with copilot Doug Demko, yesterday shattered the world record for an eastbound global circumnavigation in a light business jet, with a time of 61 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds, lopping 21 hours off the previous record set in 1991 by a UK pilot in a Cessna Citation II. Last year, Isaacman made two unsuccessful attempts at the record in a Citation Mustang very light jet, both of which ended in bureaucratic snarls. He switched to a faster, longer-legged Cessna CJ2 for this year’s record-breaking flight, which departed on Sunday from Morristown (N.J.) Airport. After traveling 22,893 miles in 15 legs, Isaacman and Demko landed there again Wednesday morning. Along the way, the flight broke an additional 14 world records. Isaacman used the circumnavigation attempt as a platform to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey, through his Web site.