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Round the World Flight Set for Monday
An anonymous reader writes "LiveScience is now reporting that Burt Rutan's GlobalFlyer is set for Monday takeoff. The plane, piloted by Steve Fossett, has been grounded since January by weather. The mission: the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the globe via jet powered craft without refueling." Commentary also available from the BBC.
I hope what goes around comes around. :)
The first successful nonstop, nonrefueling flight was made by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in their Scaled Composites Model 76 Voyager back in 1986. That one wasn't solo though.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Hopefully he gets some frequent flyer miles for this trip. It would be great if he could go back to the places he flew over and actually visit them.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
Hal & Viola Leveller fly to Laughlin, Nevada from Southern California every week without refueling. And you don't see them being the subject of an article on Slashdot.
:-M
The pilot is secondary. The aircraft, and its technology, is the key thing. However, Fossett has proven, at least to Rutan, that he is a capable pilot, able to navigate all the way around the world (mostly), by himself. The people who have done that comprises a very short list.
Burt was the first with an airplane, but it was powered by props. Steve is trying to be the first with a jet engine. A single jet engine in this case.
Much more information suitable to the slashdot crowd is available at:
http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/
We don't like press releases or watered down news articles.
Also, I bet the US government has some recon plane that has/can do something like this. I know it's possible with mid-air refueling but I bet they can do it without. Just my $0.02
- Cary
--Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play
Hel-LO, but isn't that exactly what Batman does? And Batman's cool!
According to the BBC article, he will be getting next to no sleep.
Apparently he's pretty used to feats of endurance, and he holds records in aviation and sailing. Due to the nature of the aircraft and the flying conditions, he will constantly have to be at the controls. The only sleep he expects is in the form of 5 minute naps, for which an autopilot backup and countdown alarm will be available.
His voyage will only take around 80 hours. The first around the world flight of this sort (in 1986) took about 9 days. The two pilots had to work in short shifts, but were severely fatigued at the end of the journey. This solo journey is possible for Steve Fossett because he is using a jet engine.