GlobalFlyer low on fuel, but pressing ahead to Hawaii

Decision to come tonight whether to complet round-the-world solo flight back to Kansas

Salina ? Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett decided today to press ahead with his attempt to fly around the world solo without refueling, despite a serious problem with the plane’s fuel system.

Fossett and his flight crew agreed this afternoon to keep the GlobalFlyer in the air rather than abandoning the record-setting attempt and turning back for a landing in Japan.

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He is now heading east over the Pacific Ocean, and the team expects to decide tonight after reaching Hawaii whether to press on to the U.S. mainland, some seven hours away.

“I’m better than I was yesterday,” Fossett told reporters as he headed into daylight east of Japan. “It improves the mood, also. I’m hopeful this is all going to work out.”

Fossett discovered the problem with the fuel system of the custom-built plane early Wednesday.

Once the GlobalFlyer reaches Hawaii, a critical transfer of fuel from outer tanks to the plane’s center booms will be complete and the team will know more precisely how much fuel is left.

Project manager Paul Moore said fuel sensors in the 13 tanks differ from readings of how quickly the plane’s single jet engine was burning fuel. Moore said the crew had been forced to assume that 2,600 pounds of the original 18,100 pounds of fuel “disappeared” early in the flight.

It was not clear whether the problem was with the instruments that track how much fuel remains or if some fuel had been lost because of a leak, Fossett’s team said.

Jon Karkow, Fossett’s chief flight engineer, said today the crew was confident the jet was fully loaded at takeoff and that the problem had subsided.

“At this point, it’s spilled milk, or at least fuel,” Karkow said.

Fossett, 60, still might be able to finish the flight on his original path, if a tail wind in the jet stream remains strong enough to push him across the Pacific. Karkow said if the fuel runs out, Fossett could glide about 200 miles before having to land.

Before the fuel problem was discovered, Fossett had estimated he would complete the 23,000-mile journey at midday Thursday. He took off Monday from Salina.

Fossett already holds the record for flying solo around the globe in a balloon, as well as dozens of other aviation and sailing records.

The project is being financed by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, a longtime friend and fellow adventurer. Branson spoke with Fossett as he crossed the Pacific and sounded more upbeat about the future of the flight.

“I think he’s got a shot at the record,” Branson said via telephone. “I think it’s just too soon to be confident.”

The first nonstop global flight without refueling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.