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Steve Fossett Missing
jd writes "Steve Fossett, the first person to fly a plane around the world without refueling, the first person to fly around the world in a balloon, and possibly the record-holder for the highest-altitude glider flight, is missing in Nevada. He is reported to have taken off in a light aircraft last night and has not been seen since. As he had filed no flight plan, would-be rescuers have no idea where to even begin looking. The plane took off from a private airstrip on a ranch at the south end of Smith Valley in western Nevada."
Although the upcoming cold front is expected to create high winds this afternoon, conditions this morning were quite good. I hope that he was able to ditch in a survivable place, and pray for his safety.
He's out in a single engine piston aircraft so if the motor went quiet, the only option would be to land.
In theory and from what I know of Nevada's geography, finding somewhere reasonable to put the plane down shouldn't be a big issue.
However, once down, he may be right up the middle of nowhere. You'd assume he'd just get on the radio but if it's an old Bellanca, there may be no battery power available, in a new Bellanca the fault that stopped the engine may also prevent the radio from working. Nevada's geography with raised ranges may block a radio signal in places and it may even be the case that he went out 'non-radio' as some pilots still do.
I do rather hope he's okay but the moral here is never go x-country without 'booking-out' first even if that means just telling your friend where you're going.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
Fossett may have been the first to fly SOLO around the world, but Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager flew round the world non stop without refueling in 1986.
Voyager http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager/ Was the first plane to fly around the world without refueling. He flew Global Flyer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Flyer/ around the world later.
Nevada is not a giant dry lake bed.
As someone who has traversed just a tiny bit of the variety of off-highway terrain Nevada/Arizona/Utah/East California has to offer, I find it doubtful he could put it down safely. If he went due north, then it doesn't get any easier to land it.
Let's imagine for a minute he gets insanely lucky and lands without killing himself. He's exposed to some of the hottest, driest weather in the US. How much drinking water is in single-engine plane? How much water could he carry if he were crazy enough to consider walking out?
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ITYM "Citabria" (airbatic backwards). You can use them for just buzzing around; they're about the same speed as a Piper Cub and people do make (short) trips in those.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Seriously...."Arizona is flat"....possibly the most ignorant thing I have heard this week.
Here:
i ndex.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6978818.stm
His profile is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2078591.stm
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Sorry to nitpick, but it's not a Citaborea, it's a Citabria. It's "airbatic" spelt backwards, not "aerobatic".
And I _very_ much doubt your claim that Steve Fossett is inexperienced in Aerobatics. On the contrary, 5 minutes browsing his biography will convince you that this man's aeronautical experience is immensely broad. It's inconceivable that someone with his tremendous breadth of flying experience and appetite for adventure never bothered to train in aerobatics.
Just consider the number of experimental/prototype/one-of-a-kind planes he has test flown and then set records in. You don't test-fly these things without a substantial background in aerobatics.
And I doubt that his intent for the Citabria flight involved aerobatics. Despite the name, those planes are barely capable of aerobatics at all. A Citabria is about the last choice someone of Steve's wealth and experience is likely to choose for aerobatics. Much more likely, he chose to fly a Citarbria because of the things it's _good_ for: Slow, low, relaxed, sightseeing flight, short-field takeoff and landing, etc.
(PS I'm speaking as an aerobatic pilot myself, and also a former Citabria owner).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citabria
First I heard it was "aerobatic" backwards.
I only read the linked article, it didn't say which Bellanca. Super Viking would have been a decent choice, but I'll check again for the linked articles.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Screw Lindy...When denied a permit for a transatlantic flight because your hand-built airplane (cost 900 dollars) is deemed unflyable, make the flight anyway, and then claim you got "lost."
The guy made the flight with a couple of candy bars and a bottle of water, and a fuel leak inside the cockpit which he knew about before he left, but didn't fix because he didn't want to miss his flight window.
It's that fine line between bravery and stupidity; he lived, so he was brave.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
This aircraft is "capable" of aerobatics - even inverted flight (it's main edge over the Decathalon), but it's really just an extremely rugged hi-wing tandem.
A great Bush plane actually, I wouldn't assume he was going up to do aerobatics based upon that.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
FYI, NOAA operates SARSAT. GPS Satellites are also part of the international system. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center co-ordinates the SAR (Search And Rescue) mission, calling on the The Civil Air Patrol and any local or state orginizations that are appropriate.
Whether or not Arizona is flat is debatable - you've obviously never been there, and my Phoenix sectional aeronautic chart, plus several trips over I-40 disagree with that postulate. However, Fosset seems to be missing over Nevada, which I assure you is quite mountainous, especially in the area 70 miles SE of Reno where he is supposed to have departed from. You may be interested in wiki-ing up some more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_rang es_of_Nevada
Arizona is flat? I'm not an American but I thought the Grand Canyon was in Arizona?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it