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Gliding Into the Stratosphere
iAlex writes "Apparently flying around the world in a balloon isn't enough for Steve Fossett. Currently he is attempting to exceed the sailplane altitude record of 49,000 feet. The intention is to fly a two seat glider into the stratosphere on a mountain wave while wearing a pressure suit. Later on the intention is to exceed 100,000 feet in a pressurized glider. There is also a Wired article." Here's a nutshell description of the plan and a primer on mountain waves.
That's because each one of these round-the-world balloon trips, according to press reports, is estimated to have cost at least $300,000 a pop. Fossett representative Stuart Radnofsky told ABCNEWS, "We don't discuss costs."
Charities like the Red Cross, World Vision and UNICEF declined to comment on what they thought about Fossett's spending habits -- but $300,000 could certainly do plenty to help them.
For $300,000, UNICEF said it could immunize nearly 20,000 children for life against the top six childhood killer diseases, or provide 120,000 children with basic school supplies.
The World Vision Web site says $30 can send a child in Uganda to school for a year, or help a family in the Dominican Republic plant 10 fruit trees. So that's 10,000 Ugandan children or Dominican families who are going without for a balloon flight.
The Red Cross says $350 can cover the costs of providing food and shelter for 50 disaster victims for one day. So $300,000 could cover the cost of providing food and shelter for that same group for more than two years.
"You can find people who criticize people about anything," said Radnofsky -- but some Australians think they have a case for their vitriol toward Fossett, especially after the 1998 trip that nearly killed him.
That's because after Fossett went down, he was saved by Australian search-and-rescue teams at an estimated cost of nearly $300,000, according to AusSAR official Ben Mitchell (no relation to Jim Mitchell). And despite his considerable fortune, Fossett has never paid them back, Mitchell said.
Reading the posts so far, I notice a lot of what I can only describe as 'sour grapes'. (see Aesop's fables)
Most of us spend drab, dreary, lives merely trying to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. If we had double our income we'd go on holiday more, buy a better car, move to a nicer neighbourhood, etc.
If we had ten times our income, we'd do pretty much the same, perhaps with a little empire building or nut squirrelling on the side.
If we had a thousand times our income then of course we'd be made but we'd have to start finding imaginative uses for the cash.
We could address world poverty, couldn't actually achieve very much in that area but we could make ourselves feel better by donating a couple of million each year.
Steve Fosset is in a position nowhere near good enough to fix world poverty but plenty good enough to achieve ambitions that many of us would have if only we weren't so busy merely staying alive.
He gives us something to look forward to, something to admire, something that will probably still be being commented on in a thousand years.
Don't knock it, how do you know that you wouldn't do the same thing in his shoes.
Second, this is as good a reason as any to develop new light weight space suits for space travel.
Third, there is still a hell of a lot of meterology that remains unknown at those altitudes. Sailplanes have made it up to roughly Flight level 450, but they had to stop climbing because the pilots weren't equipped to go much higher. Nobody really knows how high mountain waves can take us.
This is a better exploration for Steve Fossett than his balloon stunts. If he's successful not only will he have made new discoveries, but he may also have found a way to get humans in to orbit very inexpensively.
When you think about all the stupid things people waste their money on, I think one can excuse Steve Fossett for actually planning and executing an aviation Nerd's fantasy trip.
Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!
I suggest you read Marx's Communist Manifesto. You'll love it!
Si vis pacem, para bellum
The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
I fly RC aircraft, mainly small sailplanes, etc. This talk of mountain waves reminds me of dynamic soaring, which is a technique birds (and sailplaners) use to increase speed -- without flapping wings.
:)
In fact, sailplanes can often reach 150 MPH using this technique. And thats with no propellor. Needless to say, it's fast and exciting. Also, for those of us who like it when things go "boom", a critical failure at 150 MPH is always fun
big 'ol realplayer dynamic soaring video
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