Fossett Tries Circling Globe Nonstop
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SALINA, Kan. – Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett took off last night on his attempt to become the first person to complete a solo trip around the world in an airplane without making a single stop.
Mr. Fossett, the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon, launched his GlobalFlyer from the Salina Municipal Airport shortly before 7 p.m., beginning a 66-hour journey by climbing northeast into a darkening sky.
Hundreds of spectators, braving a bitterly cold wind, gathered along the two-mile runway to watch the takeoff. Mr. Fossett hoped to return to Salina on Thursday morning.
The 23,000-mile flight had already been postponed several times because of shifting jet stream patterns or weather at the airport.
“I’m a bit nervous about takeoff,” said Mr. Fossett, 60, who has logged about 30 hours in the jet-powered aircraft. “I will be the ultimate test pilot. I have a lot to worry about. It’s a major endeavor.”
Financed by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, it would be the first solo flight around the world without stopping to refuel. Mr. Branson watched the takeoff from the side of the runway with Mr. Fossett’s wife.
“It was obviously an emotional moment and the most dangerous part of the journey,” he said. “It was an enormous relief when it actually came off the ground.”
Aviation pioneer Wiley Post made the first solo around-the-world trip in 1933, taking more than seven days and stopping numerous times along the way. The first nonstop global flight without refueling by a duo was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of Burt Rutan, designer of the GlobalFlyer.
Besides the nonstop record, Mr. Fossett will attempt to break seven other aviation records, including the longest flight by a jet aircraft. The current record is more than 12,000 miles, set by a B-52 bomber in 1962.
Mission control director Kevin Stass said Mr. Fossett would fly over Chicago, Detroit, and Canada before heading across the Atlantic late last night. The route would then take him over Africa, the Middle East, India, China, and the Pacific Ocean.
