Fossett takes wing again
2005-02-27 11:40
Austin - Steve Fossett has set around-the-world records in a sailboat and a hot air balloon. On Monday, he aims to do it in an airplane.
If his latest adventure is successful, the American millionaire will be the first person to circumnavigate the globe on a solo, non-stop, non-refuelled flight.
"It's going to be one of the most difficult flights I've ever done because of the workload of flying solo and the endurance of flying for three days," Fossett said in a telephone interview with AFP.
To prepare himself physically and mentally, the 60-year-old Fossett works out virtually every day - lately it's been downhill and cross-country skiing - and has taken the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer out on several test flights.
While in the air, Fossett will be in near-constant contact with mission control in Salina, Kansas, via a Nasa-designed communications system.
A chase plane will follow him along the route in order to document the flight and provide support.
But there are some things he simply can't prepare for, Fossett said.
"I don't think there's any way to train for sleep deprivation," he said.
Another is the weather.
The light-bodied aircraft relies on prevailing winds, or the jet stream, to help push it along its journey. But it needs to avoid the jet stream until it reaches its cruising altitude or else it could be damaged by heavy turbulence.
It also is not equipped with de-icing capacities but requires a cold ambient temperature and a high barometric pressure to maximize engine performance and gain the maximum amount of lift. So ground conditions have to be perfect.
'Everything must be right'
In an e-mail announcing the latest of several postponements, Fossett said "As eager as I am to start this flight, everything must be right."
The GlobalFlyer team is hoping that would be on Monday. Take-off from Salina is scheduled for between 14:00 and 18:00.
Fossett hopes to break or set at least three and possibly seven official records with the flight, which brings together three giants of aviation and adventure.
Fossett has set dozens of world records and world firsts with jet airplanes and gliders, hot air balloons and sailing. The former stock options trader became famous in the mid 1990s when he made an attempt with British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon. He managed the trip solo on his sixth attempt in the summer of 2002.
Branson, whose company Virgin Atlantic Airways is funding the GlobalFlyer, is acting as the reserve pilot. Branson has set a number of sailing and aviation records in his own right while promoting the Virgin brand. He will monitor Fossett's progress from mission control in Salina.
The GlobalFlyer was designed by Burt Rutan, who recently made headlines when his SpaceShipOne won the $10m "X Prize" for sending a privately-designed craft into space twice in two weeks.
- AFP