Robert DeLaurentis (born January 11, 1966) is an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

, businessman, and author. He was the first solo pilot to fly a Piper Malibu Mirage, a small, single-engine plane, around the world from May 17, 2015, to August 14, 2015. The flight covered 26,000 nautical miles and 23 countries in 98 days for a fundraising campaign to support aviation programs. On August 10, 2020, DeLaurentis completed a 9-month, 26,000–nautical mile polar circumnavigation and global peace mission, "One Planet, One People, One Plane: Oneness for Humanity" in his modified 1983 aircraft named "Citizen of the World".

Early life and education

DeLaurentis was born in

Salamanca, New York Salamanca ( Seneca: ''Onë'dagö:h'') is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, inside the Allegany Indian Reservation, one of two governed by the Seneca Nation of New York. The population was 5,929 at the 2020 census. It was n ...

, moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, then Indonesia, then finally settled in San Diego, California. Following an undergraduate degree in accounting from USC, he earned an advanced graduate degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica. From 1989 to 2006, DeLaurentis served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, achieving rank of lieutenant commander. In 1995, following his Navy career, he founded a real estate development company, Innorev Enterprises, Inc., with projects throughout

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Career

2015 circumnavigation

DeLaurentis decided to attempt to fly solo around the world to raise awareness and funding for programs at Lindbergh–Schweitzer Elementary and

AOPA The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

(Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) Flight Training Scholarship Program by the name "The Spirit of San Diego". He was testing new aviation technology to make aviation more affordable and safer. Departing

Lindbergh Field San Diego International Airport is the primary international airport serving San Diego and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. The airport is located northwest of downtown San Diego. It is the busiest single-r ...

, San Diego, California, in the single engine Piper Malibu Mirage named "Spirit of San Diego" on May 17, 2015, DeLaurentis covered 26,000

nautical miles A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at the eq ...

and 23 countries in 98 days.

2019–2020 pole-to-pole circumnavigation

On his second circumnavigation, DeLaurentis used a modified 1983 Turbine Commander 900 twin-engine plane he named "Citizen of the World". The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

turned the planned five-month pole-to-pole peace mission into a nine-month mission. Showcasing and promoting 95 sponsors from around the world, "Citizen of the World’s" polar circumnavigation including many national partners and local San Diego aviation and communication technology businesses that serviced and supported the aircraft and pilot in flying the longest distance in a twin-engine or single-engine turboprop—18.1 hours in flight—and becoming the first and fastest polar circumnavigation in the world in a twin-engine or single-engine turboprop. Following two initial departure delays due to issues with new technology installations in the aircraft, DeLaurentis departed from San Diego County’s Gillespie Field on November 17, 2019, with the intention of crossing the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

and then the North Pole before returning home. DeLaurentis stopped in 22 different countries along the way, interviewing

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

leaders and local residents for an upcoming documentary, "''Peace Pilot: To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond''".

Bibliography

DeLaurentis has authored the books "''Flying Thru Life: How to Grow Your Business and Relationships with Applied Spirituality''", "''Zen Pilot: Flight of Passion and the Journey Within''", and the children’s book "''The Little Plane That Could''". His next book, "''Peace Pilot: To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond''", will be released in 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delaurentis, Robert Living people 1966 births American businesspeople Aviators from New York (state) American non-fiction writers American aviation writers