GlobalFlyer 'Round The World Solo Flight Takes Off

bryanthompson writes "The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer took off from the Salina Municipal Airport this evening at about 6:47 CST. The Salina Airport was chosen for its central location, and the fact that it is one of the few air strips long enough for the flyer to take off successfully. The trip around the world is expected to take about 80 hours, with speeds averaging 285 mph. The craft was designed for Sir Richard Branson by Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites, who also designed SpaceShipOne." Steve Fossett is piloting the craft, intended (as reader aallan puts it), "to be the first solo non-stop flight around the world without refuelling."

Comments

Looks to me

[ICECommander]

like Scaled Composites is going to be the high-tech aerospace leader, first SpaceShipOne then this.
Maybe they will get to Mars before NASA?

Re:Looks to me

[Anonymous Coward]

I've never understood why people think of rutan as some sort of god of legendary designer when it comes to these things.

Anyone in the Aerospace industry who knows anything about aircraft design can tell you that while rutan has had a few good designs, it isnt like he knows more than anyone else, but rather he has had the balls to go ahead and build things. Which is why he is on the map today.

This aircraft is designed and built for a single mission. The structure is highly specialized and the craft does not have to take into account for any wide range of CG margins.

Compare this to a commercial airliner like the new Boeing 777-200LR which must be able to fly at several different loading conditions over an incredible range... or perhaps the Lockheed-Martin F-35, in which one basic airframe is meeting the needs of 3 different branches of the military. The guys at Scaled may be good, however they arent any better than the guys at Boeing/Lockheed