This Father-Son Pilot Duo Celebrated Canada 150 With a Trip Around The World

A father and son circled the globe for Canada 150, making history of their own.

In December 2015, Steven Dengler, 48, and his father, Bob, 77, posed the question: how can we celebrate 150 years of Canadiana for our home and native land’s big birthday in 2017? Then inspiration struck: they were both trained helicopter pilots, so why not fly?

The C150 Global Odyssey, the first Canadian circumnavigation of the world by helicopter, was born. After 18 months of planning, the father-son duo achieved liftoff on July 1, 2017.

Over the next 48 days, the team flew a Canadian-made Bell 429 helicopter 37,000 kilometres, spanning 14 countries – and right into the history record books as the first-ever father-son circumnavigation by any type of aircraft. “As an official Canada 150 event, our trip visited many sites significant to Canadian history,” says Steven, “including the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Baddeck Bay in Nova Scotia, Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Canada House in London and Vimy Ridge in France.”