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GlobalFlyer Completes Record-Breaking Flight

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the shoulda-gone-for-two dept.

ikewillis writes "Steve Fossett has successfully landed the GlobalFlyer in Kansas, completing the record-breaking flight and becoming the first person to successfully circle the earth in a nonstop solo flight. The journey of 37,000 kilometres has taken 67 hours, many of them fraught with anxiety over whether the custom-made GlobalFlyer aircraft had enough fuel for the trip. Fossett managed to touch down at 2:48 p.m. EST, to the delight of mission control staff, a small crowd and a marching band that had gathered at the airstrip to welcome him."

15 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. Can I just be the first to say ... by B3ryllium · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who gives a flying F***!!!? ;-)

  2. Sad, isn't it? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    a small crowd and a marching band that had gathered at the airstrip to welcome him."

    A guy flies all around the world, non-stop, solo in a jet aircraft and that's his reception. He should have landed in France, they knew how to welcome Lindy.

    The first person to fly, solo, nonstop around the moon and back will probably be greeted by a kid with a kazoo.

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Sad, isn't it? by entrager · · Score: 4, Funny
      The first person to fly, solo, nonstop around the moon and back will probably be greeted by a kid with a kazoo.
      No, they will be greeted by Ashlee Simpson.
    2. Re:Sad, isn't it? by Coffee+Warlord · · Score: 4, Funny

      He landed in Kansas. That was the entire population of the state that came out. :)

    3. Re:Sad, isn't it? by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah .. especially as the Space Shuttle goes around the world on one tank of gas .. just happens to be a bloody big tank.

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  3. Easy to go faster than that by RedVortex · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why didn't he just took off and re-landed right away, it would've been much faster than going around the world just to land at the same spot... DUH !!! Scientists, always missing the obvious... RedVortex

  4. yeah, but by FirstNoel · · Score: 4, Funny

    it will be the best kazoo money can buy...

    --
    "Hmm. I am to metaphor cheese as metaphor cheese is to transitive verb crackers!"
  5. Re:67 hours no? by iminplaya · · Score: 4, Funny

    You forgot to convert it to metric hours.

    --
    What?
  6. Sleep? by weston · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The 60-year-old millionaire adventurer stayed awake for almost all of the trip, taking only brief catnaps in the jet"

    A 60 year old staying awake for nearly three days straight is as impressive to me as fuel economy. I couldn't make two full days straight, even when I was 19...

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    Tweet, tweet.
  7. The rest of the story by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 4, Funny

    And his luggage will arrive next week -- at the latest!

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  8. Re:A Great American Hero by Monsieur+Canard · · Score: 4, Funny

    Believe it or not
    George isn't at home...

    --
    He took a duck to the face at 250 knots.
  9. In other news.... by tinrobot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mr. Fossett has just set another record for the longest time spent standing in front of a urinal.

  10. Re:Salina, Kansas by geoffspear · · Score: 5, Funny

    How informative. It's unfortunate the war ended 9 years before a B52 ever flew, or that training would have been a lot more valuable.

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  11. Re:Correction by KUHurdler · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Do you claim that your trip to work this morning involved moving 30,000 miles?"

    Only on my taxes.

    --
    Fix Your Own TV - RiddledTV.com Avoid the Landfill
  12. Radio chatter by Rorschach1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did anyone else catch the radio chatter as he switched over to the Selina tower frequency? Lots of congratulations from airlines, and one

    "Fossett, you're a stud."