Pilot racing around the globe
2005-03-02 09:46
Salina - A quarter of the way to history, millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett raced across North Africa and the Middle East in his bid to become the first person to fly a plane around the globe solo, non-stop and without refuelling.
Fossett was over Pakistan at 14 850m around 23:00, travelling east at 627km/h.
His experimental single-engine GlobalFlyer had consumed 25% of its 8 100kg of fuel, while Fossett had downed at least three diet chocolate milkshakes. The jet took off after sunset Monday from Salina.
"At this time everything is going very well, I'm very happy with the situation and I think we've got a good chance," Fossett said during a call from the plane, according to his website.
Fossett's mission control in Salina estimated he will complete the 37 000km journey at midday on Thursday.
Fossett, 60, already holds the record for flying solo around the globe in a balloon, as well as dozens of other aviation and sailing records.
Project manager Paul Moore said Fossett reached his cruising altitude of 13 500m over the Atlantic instead of over Saudi Arabia, as originally expected, because of better-than-expected performance of the GlobalFlyer.
The project is being financed by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, a long-time friend and fellow adventurer.
For a while early on Tuesday, Fossett was flying blind and in the dark over the United States-Canada border after experiencing difficulties with his global positioning system. Moore said Fossett relied on help from mission control to navigate before the problem corrected itself.
"It was a minor scare that could have been a real show-stopper," Moore said.
Fossett is trying to break several aviation records, including the longest flight by a jet. The record is more than 19 308km, set by a B-52 bomber in 1962.
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.
In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world.
- AP