Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett’s GlobalFlyer plane took off into the clear Kansas skies on Tuesday, setting in motion a world record bid described by his backer and friend Richard Branson as the last great aviation record — flying nonstop and solo around the world.
GlobalFlyer‘s 19 863 nautical mile, 456kph white knuckle ride began at an airfield in the city of Salina, Kansas as Fossett folded himself into his 2,1m cockpit — home for the next 80 hours — at 6.30pm local time (12.30amGMT).
He spent 15 minutes making last-minute checks before the fragile-looking aircraft powered along the 3 750m runway, accelerating to a speed of 224kph before lifting off at exactly 6.47pm and 10 seconds in front of the assembled press corps and an estimated 8 000 onlookers.
A teary-eyed Branson, who stood with Fossett’s wife Betty as the plane took off, said he was delighted that the potentially perilous takeoff had gone smoothly.
”It was obviously an emotional moment. It was an enormous relief when it came off the ground,” he said. ”Something which I never thought I could be able to say about a plane is: next stop Salina.”
At a press conference at 10pm local time, project director Paul Moore said there had been ”no real surprises” during the first three hours of the flight — predicted to be the most dangerous of the whole journey because the plane starts to burn off the huge fuel payload. He said Fossett had travelled 1 390km and was flying at 571kph at an altitude of 38 000ft (over 11km) over Detroit.
Kevin Stass, GlobalFlyer’s mission control director, said: ”The aircraft has never taken off with such a high fuel load, so this was one of the most dangerous challenges of the record attempt. Everyone at mission control is really pleased that Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer has successfully accomplished takeoff from Salina on its journey around the world.”
GlobalFlyer will now fly north to Newfoundland, then across the ocean and to north Africa and the Middle East before passing over Pakistan and India and onwards until it re-enters US airspace over Los Angeles, landing, if things go smoothly, back where it started in Salina.
The plane’s design is unique. It must be strong but light, to cope with the huge fuel payload that makes up 86% of its total weight of 9 945kg and to withstand the buffeting of the jet stream that will help it on its way. Its trimaran design consists of two fuel-filled booms — so fragile that chief engineer Jon Karkow compared them to watermelons — slung along the 35m wingspan, dwarfing the central 2,1m cockpit. He will urinate into bottles and dine only on diet milkshakes while trying to stay alert enough to pilot the plane as it rides the jet stream at an altitude of around 13, 716m. If he succeeds, Fossett (60) will have notched up another record to add to the 62 he already holds. Among other achievements, he was the first person to circle the globe solo in a hot-air balloon.
His adventurer’s pedigree did not mean he was immune to a spot of pre-flight nerves, however. Fossett confessed to a press conference on Monday night: ”I suppose I am a bit of a nervous person. Perhaps it’s justified in this case.”
Nevertheless on the runway Fossett looked calm and relaxed as he made the final checks before takeoff and shook hands with Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic is sponsoring the record attempt. He had had an hour’s nap that afternoon and said he was feeling good.
Karkow said the auto pilot should allow Fossett to enjoy ”cat naps” of 10 to 20 minutes, but if he drifts off to sleep for any longer as the hours tick by and fatigue begins to set in, staff at mission control at Kansas State University, Salina, and on the chase plane that will accompany GlobalFlyer for much of the flight will be there to wake him up.
A sophisticated Nasa onboard communication system will keep Fossett in constant touch with the ground and allow him to conduct interviews with the 160-strong international press corps that has descended on Salina.
Branson is confident that Fossett, his partner for several around the world balloon exploits, is up to the job. ”It’s the greatest of aviation adventures by the world’s greatest adventurer,” he said. The millionaire Virgin chairman has offered Fossett free flights for life on Virgin Atlantic if he succeeds. He has lent him his Breitling watch — featuring a special emergency locator beacon in case of emergency — for the duration of the flight. ”I want it back afterwards,” he joked.
When questioned about the reason for the attempt, Branson said: ”Mankind strives to improve on what he has knows. So first of all this is a challenge to see whether it’s possible to fly around the world by himself without refuelling. If mankind hadn’t pushed themselves to climb mountains or if the Wright brothers hadn’t taken the risk of flying originally Virgin Atlantic and other airliners wouldn’t be here”.
The first solo round-the-world trip, a seven-day, multi-stop voyage, was undertaken by Wiley Post in 1933. The first nonstop global flight without refuelling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, the brother of the GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.
GlobalFlyer‘s aerodynamic design was dreamed up by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites aircraft factory and cost $1,5-million to design and build. Scaled Composites is also developing on SpaceShipOne, the craft in which Branson hopes to become the first space tourist and to launch Virgin Atlantic passengers into space. – Guardian Unlimited Â