Original Message

As for that video...  Mikhail "Michael" Farikh was a Russian rich guy who loved flying.  He was very much like that Most Interesting Man in the World character from those old Dos Equis TV commercials.  I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times.  He never said exactly what he did in Russia to get all his money, but he obviously had a lot.  He was very vague about his background (other than that he was in the Russian military), and we knew to not ask a lot of questions.  He was fearless.  He wanted to fly a Robinson up to the North Pole and wanted Robinson to support him.  They said, "Hell no, and we're not even going to acknowledge you. You're on your own."  He did it anyway.  He did all kinds of crazy expeditions.  He told us many of his flying stories - not in a bragging way, just very modest and matter-of-factly - like about teaching himself how to climb and descend in absolute zero/zero conditions (not in the U.S.). One night, we were in a pizza/beer place in Washington State. Michael ordered vodka. When informed that they did not serve alcohol at that place, he pulled out a wad of cash. In other parts of the world, that's what it would take to procure something that was (ahem) "not available."  He was surprised that it didn't work in America.  He was a pretty good pilot, in skill if not judgment.  He did - and filmed - all kinds of crazy stuff with Robinsons.  Like those backward-flare autos. Eventually, his hubris caught up with him - he crashed and killed himself and two others flying in zero/zero conditions on one of his epic flights. Great guy...but kind of crazy.  RIP, man.

Mikhail Farikh - Wikipedia