Kansas-based flight lands in record books
Pilot circles globe without stopping, refueling
Salina ? First by balloon, now by plane, Steve Fossett is once again a ’round-the-world record holder.
The millionaire adventurer on Thursday became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling, touching down in Salina after a 67-hour, two-minute, 38-second 23,000-mile journey that appeared endangered at times by a troubled fuel system.
Fossett, 60, who failed five times before successfully circumnavigating the globe solo in a balloon, needed just one try to make the trip in a plane. This latest adventure gives Fossett yet another aviation 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 trip in 1986 with two pilots aboard, touched down on the center line at the Salina airport at 1:50 p.m. Thursday.
Immediately after leaving the cockpit, a jubilant Fossett hugged his wife, Peggy, and was congratulated by Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire Virgin Atlantic founder who financed the flight.
“That was something I wanted to do for a long time, a major ambition,” Fossett said.
Although he looked surprisingly fresh, Fossett said he was tired and ready for a bath and a good meal. He planned to rest before attending a celebration for the crew and supporters Thursday night in Salina.
“Believe me, it’s great to be back on the ground,” Fossett said. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
Branson grabbed a bottle of champagne from Fossett, shook it up, and sprayed down the pilot.
Steve Fossett, left, and Sir Richard Branson celebrate after Fossett's landing of the GlobalFlyer at the Salina Municipal Airport. Fossett touched ground in Kansas on Thursday, 67 hours after taking off from Salina on his successful quest to become the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world without refueling.
“It’s been a magnificent trip,” Branson said. “He was obviously over the moon about it.”
No publicity stunt
Fossett said he survived on 12 milkshakes and water during the flight. He said his main problems during the flight were headaches, which went away when he drank water, and a lack of sleep. Fossett used bottles as his bathroom.
“There are certain things that are just missing on this airplane,” he said in reference to the lack of a bathroom.
He said he was overwhelmed by the number of people who watched the flight on television and the Internet, and by the tens of thousands who were at the airport to watch him land. But he insisted his adventures were not just publicity stunts.
“I would do these things if nobody was paying attention,” Fossett said.
Uncertain outcome
There was some doubt Wednesday 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 2,600 of the original 18,100 pounds of fuel “disappeared” early in the flight.
It was not clear whether there was an actual leak or just a problem with the sensors, Fossett’s team said.
Steve Fossett lands the GlobalFlyer airplane at Salina Municipal Airport. Fossett landed Thursday after successfully flying the craft solo around the world without refueling, setting a world record. He took off from Salina 67 hours earlier.
Facing a decision near Hawaii about whether to land or press ahead over the vast Pacific Ocean for the U.S. 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 chose Salina because he needed a long runway for the takeoff and landing. The runway in Salina — once used to train WWII bomber crews — is about 12,000 feet long.
Fossett set his ballooning record in 2002, taking off and landing in Australia. The millionaire from Chicago has also swam the English Channel, run the Iditarod sled dog race and driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race.
The GlobalFlyer’s trip also broke several other aviation records, including the longest flight by a jet without refueling. The record was more than 12,000 miles, 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 nonstop global flight without refueling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.
6News video: GlobalFlyer returns to Salina (03-03-05)
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