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GlobalFlyer Completes Record-Breaking Flight
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."
The friendly article mentioned "The journey of 37,000 kilometres took 67 hours".
What is unknown is the amount of fuel left when the craft was landed, I'm sure I'm not the only one eager to find out.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
The only difference between Steve Fosset and myself is millions upon millions of dollars. People like him just buy records.
A millionaire with all the time on his hands.
This reminds me of Richard Bransons attempts to get media attention by crossing the atlantic in his high speed yacht to break some old records.
Flying around the world without refueling is not a big accomplishment in my opinion.
This was just for publicity for another rich guy.
Well, he decided to land in freakin' Kansas. They don't have many people out there, feewer people who give a rat's ass.
If he would have landed in Chicago, NYC, or any number of other places, he would have had a huge crowd.
Pretty Pictures!
We can debate whether Fosset deserves praise, but I think it's pretty clear that it's a huge accomplishment for Burt Rutan.
343 MPH is a reasonable speed once wind correction is taken into account. Remember that where he spent most of his time flying, steady winds in excess of 100 mph are not uncommon.
Although none of the articles specify, I'd guess that the 285 MPH mark is either an IAS (indicated air speed - how fast the plane is going as indicated to the pilot) or more likely TAS (true air speed - how fast the plane is moving through the surrounding air). Ground air speed takes factors like wind into account, and can either be slower (in the event of a headwind) or faster (when tail winds are present) than the TAS.
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This really seems to be overhyped to me. It is, at most, an incremental improvement over the status quo. Lindberg crossing the Atlantic was significant because nothing like it had ever been done; but we first orbited the Earth back in the '60s, military aircraft circle the globe in flight constantly, and there has never really been a commercial need for a plane that could go more than halfway around the world at one time. So, yeah, congratulations and all, but this sounds more like a millionaire sailing around the world in his yacht than the next Magellan.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
Idiot.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
Rich guy stays up for 67 hours, while another rich guy's toy works around him.
Hoo..... ray.
This is as blah as can be.
If I was a rich man...
Many of his adventures have a big chance in ending in a lethal failure. Yeah he has money, but he is living the dreams of many who do not and inspiring some of them to try to put themselves in the same position.
Losers rarely want to do what winners have to do.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Yuri Gagarin Did not Completely orbit hte globe...i.e. he did not Land where he took off and did completely orbit the Earth.
He was the First Human into space and thats enough prestige for anyone.
John Glenn completely orbited the Earth 3 times.
Fosset did something interesting but not earth shattering. If he gets to Mars first...THEN i will give due Credit.
As a result (and to protect your mental faculties) your capacity for true joy has been severely curtailed. Don't worry. There are many like you out there. Jaded, bored and drowning in ennui. The rest of us allow ourselves the opportunatity to be hurt and perhaps even overloaded. As a result we feel real joy when others accomplish great things.
I don't really know if your type is more prevalant than my type and frankly I think the answer would probably depress the fuck out of me.
Try to find your wonderment. In your capacity for humanity. For our ability to push boundries and reach for the unknown. For the very real way that despite all of the dangers we pose to ourselves we have so far avoided utter distruction.
Unless you are willing to risk disappointment you will never know true joy.
I am pro-lifechoice.
Give me a break, Mr. "holier-than-thou".
This record wasn't worth getting excited about, simply because it wasn't much of an accomplishment.
You will find that those you consider jaded, cynical and world weary just have a lot more experience in what actually goes on in this world. It's the ignorant and misinformed who get most excited about things.
I remember the recent hoax about the cactus "growing human hairs". As a biochemist, I looked at the page of methods, laughed a little (since they had ripped it verbatim from another art/genetics project, and that had borrowed it from some standard protocol), and moved on.
Others seemed to get very, very excited.
Now, according to you, I am dead inside.
I object: It is just that the excited ones (yourself included for this achievement), seem to be dead upstairs. Learn to think critically; look at what was actually achieved vs. the hype they're pushing.
You too may realise it just isn't a big deal. Rich boys with rich toys. Other millionaires sponsor a yacht in the America's Cup - Fossett just paid to be a tourist in a largely computer-controlled flight of a plane. Whoopee.
I think, my frustration stems more from a feeling of , "if you have the cash, you can do cool shit. therefore, it's not cool to do shit just because you have mad cash". I LOVED Rick Hansen when he wheeled himself around the world, but Steve Fosset? Please. Gimme a strong pot o' coffee and his resources and I'll complete that flight, too (and I wouldn't expect the world to throw me a party).
No, we're just dead inside to "a new world record!". If you watch enough news, there are world records being broken every day. Surely you can't be suggesting that I should be getting excited (and experiencing "true joy") all day every day.
We do not shield ourselves from life to prevent from being "hurt". We shield ourselves from 4 billion daily news events so we can get something done. If I felt "true joy" about every time everybody did something neat, I'd have no time left to breathe. I assure you that even those of us who think this event is ho-hum still feel pain; it's simply about things that matter.
I know what joy is; hearing about a millionare who went a bit further in a balloon than has been done before doesn't do it for me. This does not mean I'm "dead inside". (If my grandmother doesn't get excited by a new Linux kernel release, does that mean she's dead inside? No, she simply doesn't get excited by the same type of events.)
Please try not to hold everybody else in the world in such contempt.