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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."

8 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. Correction by Zebbie · · Score: 5, Informative
    The post says that the flight took "more than 80 hours," but the first link states the flight took 67 hours.

    Also FYI (37,000 km) / (67 hours) = 343.145285 mph ... pretty darn fast considering they were expecting an average of 285mph.

  2. Re:Salina, Kansas by Jarnis · · Score: 3, Informative

    VERY long runway.

    And that's where he started (because of the very long runway that was needed for takeoff).

    And by the record rules, you have to start and land from the same airfield.

  3. Congratulations most deservedly goes to... by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 4, Informative

    Jon Karkow, my neighbor and project manager/designer and chief test pilot of this little airplane. It was his baby from start to finish. (in addition to all the other congratulations all around!)

    --M

  4. Re:Mod me down but this is no big accomplishment by PedanticSpellingTrol · · Score: 3, Informative

    Publicity for the same rich guy, in fact. Branson put up all the cash for this little excursion.

  5. Re:67 hours no? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Informative

    Remember that at the last minute, they changed the flightplan to take a MASSIVE shortcut by cutting out the northern atlantic route and instead flying directly to Africa and across that way (due to preferential winds apparently) That would have saved a lot of fuel, which probably helped a lot.

  6. Re:sorry, around the world? since when?! by groomed · · Score: 4, Informative
    Actually, from the global flyer website:
    The FAI's rules state that a record attempt like this must start and finish at the same airfield and cross all meridians of the globe. What's more the course must not be less than the very precise figure of 36,787.559 kilometres (around 23,000 miles) which is equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer. To allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to catch the vital jet stream winds, the FAI rules don't oblige that record attempts follow the imaginary line of the Tropic itself but simply that the distance flown exceeds it.
    So it seems more or less legit.
  7. Re:67 hours no? by Enigma_Man · · Score: 3, Informative

    The chute _was_ necessary to land properly, the info on the Scaled Composites site specifically mentions that. The plane had such a good glide-to-drop-ratio (I forget the actual term for that) that it made it extremely difficult to land. You couldn't get the plane to drop fast enough to land in any sort of reasonable runway, it would just skim over the ground.

    -Jesse

    --
    Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
  8. Re:67 hours no? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    The actual requirements are '36,787.559-kilometer minimum distance required for the arbiter of world aviation records, the Paris-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale, to recognize the feat.' There you go.