Fossett makes aviation history
2005-03-03 21:47
Salina - Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett on Thursday became the first person to fly around the world solo without stopping or refuelling, safely touching down in his custom-built plane 67 hours after take-off.
A fuel system problem had raised doubts on Wednesday whether Fossett could complete the 37 000km journey.
But he and his flight crew agreed to keep the GlobalFlyer in the air rather than abandon the attempt.
Fossett, 60, already holds the record for flying solo around the globe in a balloon.
He failed five times before successfully completing that flight, but needed just one try to make the trip in a plane.
This latest adventure gives Fossett yet another record, adding to the many he holds as a balloonist, pilot and sailor.
Fossett's GlobalFlyer, designed by the same engineer who came up with the Voyager aircraft that first completed the around-the-world trip in 1986 with two pilots aboard, touched down in Salina at 13:48 (19:48 GMT) on Thursday.
1 170kg of fuel 'disappeared'
Fossett chose Salina because he needed a long runway for the take-off and landing.
The runway in Salina - once used to train World War II bomber crews - is about 3 600m long.
There was some doubt if Fossett would make it back to Salina.
Fuel sensors in the custom-built plane's 13 tanks differed from readings of how quickly its single jet engine was burning fuel, forcing Fossett's crew to assume that 1 170kg of the original 8 145kg of fuel "disappeared".
It was not clear whether there was an actual leak or just a problem with the sensors, Fossett's team said.
Facing a decision near Hawaii about whether to land or press ahead over the vast Pacific Ocean to the United States mainland, Fossett told his team, "Let's go for it."
Hours later, pushed by strong tail winds that left him with enough in the tanks to finish the global trek, he safely crossed over Los Angeles and turned northeast for Salina and the finish line.
Fossett, 60, set his ballooning record in 2002, taking off and landing in Australia.
Diverse other records
The millionaire from Chicago has also swum the English Channel, run the Iditarod dog-sled race and driven in the 24-hour of Le Mans car race.
Aviation pioneer Wiley Post made the first solo around-the-world trip in 1933, taking more than seven days and stopping numerous times.
The first non-stop global flight without refuelling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.
The project was financed by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, a long time friend and fellow adventurer.
- AP