GLOBAL FLYER - 20 HOUR DIARY - Tuesday 1 March 2005     Press Association

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2:24pm (UK time)

 

NAVIGATION BLIP HITS ROUND THE WORLD FLYER

 

 

The navigation system on board Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer crashed for two hours today leaving its pilot with no idea where he was going.  Adventurer Steve Fossett is attempting to become the first person to fly solo non-stop around the world.  He hopes to complete the trip – which began early today – in less than 80 hours. 

 

But all did not run smoothly in the first few hours of the challenge.  For two hours the Global Positioning System (GPS) was disabled, not only leaving Fossett without a navigation guide but knocking out the auto-pilot.  With no GPS, the trip would not have been accepted by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the airline authority monitoring the event.  The trip still could have counted for the Guinness World Records, but not as a bona fide aviation achievement.

 

 

Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer

 

 

As he flew over eastern Canada, Fossett had to decide whether he want to continue.

He described the glitch as a potential “show-stopper” – strong words for a man not known for expressing much emotion.  The 60-year-old told Mission Control in Salina, Kansas where the plane took off and is due to land that he was determined to carry on.

 

Without warning, the system suddenly clicked back in, much to the relief of the pilot and his support staff on the ground.  Kevin Stass, Mission Control Director, said the system corrected itself with no help from the experts on the ground.

 

“That would have been a big problem,” he said. “We couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

“We couldn’t really know where he was and we probably would have missed a couple of key way points.  “But it started working again and as long as it is working, we don’t really care.”  Mr Stass said the flight, which has been going for more than 12 hours, was going “remarkably well”, despite the GPS problem. He said there was concern that reports of turbulence during yesterday’s test flights would affect GlobalFlyer, but all seemed to be running smoothly. “Turbulence is a concern, we delayed take-off because of the winds but they died down as the sun went down,” he said.

 

The project’s sponsor, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, met up with the GlobalFlyer over Canada, following its progress in a chase plane.  Talking about the take-off, which was the most feared part of the attempt because of the enormous load of fuel on board, he said: “It was a very emotional moment, seeing him off.  “It was, perhaps, one of the most tricky stages of a trip like this.”

 

 

 

GobalFlyer test flight above the Sierra Nevada mountains

 

 

Sir Richard, 54, said 80% of the danger was over now that the aircraft was in the air.

GlobalFlyer took off carrying a weight of 21,900lbs – 86% of this was made up of fuel.

It had never flown so heavy and the aircraft’s makers, the Californian based company Scaled Composites, feared it might have broken up or even failed to lift off the ground. But the plane successfully took to the skies in front of more than 8,000 spectators at 6.47pm local time last night (12.47am UK time) in the Kansas city.

 

Salina was previously best known for manufacturing frozen pizza, so the record breaking attempt has given the area something of a boost.  Because of the weight, it was impossible for Fossett to reach his final cruising height of 45,000ft without burning off some fuel.  At 7.30am local time (1.30pm UK times) he was approaching north Africa and the aircraft weighed 17,300lbs.

He is currently at 44,000ft and should reach optimum cruising altitude by the time he passes Casablanca.

 

Chief engineer and test pilot Jon Karkow said much of the gasoline and kerosene on board was expected to be taken up in the early stages of the flight and there was no concern that GlobalFlyer was burning fuel too quickly.

 

Fossett will spend the next two days in his 7.7ft cockpit in which he is severely cramped.

He has been tucking into chocolate milkshakes as his only form of sustenance.  But he will have little to distract him because for 20% of the journey he will be flying in the dark, due to the fact that he is constantly heading east.  GlobalFlyer will only be spotted over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, the Indian plains beyond Delhi and above the islands of Hawaii. 

 

 


 

 

For the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer and its pilot Steve Fossett to set a world record for the first solo, non-stop, non-refuelled circumnavigation of the world they will have to follow a strict set of rules laid down by the governing body of aviation record attempts, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

 

 

 

Virgin Atlantic

 

 Virgin Jumbo Jet

 

 

 


 

Steve Fossett began his world navigation attempt Monday 1 March 2005

 

 

 

 

PLEASE USE THE LINKS ABOVE TO FOLLOW STEVE FOSSETT'S  WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

 


 

 

 

GLOBAL FLYER LINKS:

 

 

Home  Latest News  About the Attempt  About the Aircraft  Steve Fossett  Sir Richard Branson 

 

  Virgin Atlantic  Press Area

 

About the Aircraft  Steve Fossett Biography  Richard Branson Biography  Virgin Atlantic

 

 

 

Kansas start for Virgin attempt  06 Dec 04 |  Science/Nature

SpaceShipOne rockets to success  04 Oct 04 |  Science/Nature

Burt Rutan: Aviation pioneer  04 Oct 04 |  Science/Nature

Hopes soar for solo record plane  14 Aug 04 |  Science/Nature

Testing begins for global plane  12 Mar 04 |  Science/Nature

Wraps come off solo record plane  08 Jan 04 |  Science/Nature

 

 

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