Steve Fossett lands safely in Kansas
Completed his record-breaking solo around the world flight.
From the
NY Times:
Solitary Round-the-World Flight Concludes With Smooth Landing
Steve Fossett's audacious attempt to fly an airplane around the world alone, without stops or refueling, ended successfully today at the former Air Force base in Kansas where it began, as his GlobalFlyer, its 13 fuel tanks nearly empty, touched down safely in Salina some 67 hours after it left.
Spectators cheered and a local high school band played in an unseasonable 69 degrees as the GlobalFlyer returned under blue skies to a pancake-flat place that had been chosen not with this landing in mind but for the take-off nearly three days ago - engineers had wanted a two-mile runway with no obstructions at the end, so that the plane, heavily laden and underpowered by almost any standard, had ample room to make it into the sky.
Very cool - the plane was built by Burt Rutan (of course...)
Rutan also built the Voyager which brother Dick flew with another pilot, Jeana Yeager, around the world nonstop without refueling in 1986.
Posted by DaveH at March 3, 2005 3:26 PM