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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."

3 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. Catching up with the Soviets, are we? by Adam.Steinbaugh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wasn't Yuri Gagarin "the first person to successfully circle the earth in a nonstop solo flight" in Vostok 1, back in '61? Hyuk.

    --
    "Mother, should I run for President? Mother, should I trust the government?"
  2. Around the Earth .. Really??? by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd be one of the first to congratulate him for his flight, but how do you define "Around the earth"?? Especially when:

    a) He was 3000 km shy of the circumference at the equator.

    b) I don't belive he made it into the southern hemisphere.

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  3. Waste Disposal System by jac1962 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder how big his piss can was?

    IIRC, the USAF's U-2S high altitude reconnaissance aircraft piss can held about a quart.

    Sometimes, if we were turning a jet for a second sortie the same day, the crew chief would forget to empty the can (thank God I was an avionics specialist!) after the first pilot had made his contribution. The second pilot would discover this oversight when his urine would fill the can and then back up the tube to overflow in his pressure suit, where it sloshed around for the remainder of the flight. . .

    There is no facility for disposing of solid waste though. Every now and then a mission would abort because the pilot was suffering from "gastrointestinal distress." In the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron's (IYAABYAS!) ops shack, there is plaque high up on the wall, with a roll of toilet paper attached, commerating all those brave U-2 pilots who joined the exclusive "Stratoshitters Club." One guy's name was on there twice. . .

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