PLANE POISED TO BREAK RECORD AFTER REPAIRS, AIRCRAFT WILL TAKE OFF ON ATTEMPT AT LONGEST NONSTOP FLIGHT.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - Mojave-built Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer (FAA: N277SF) is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in a time of 67 hours 1 minute from February 28, 2005 until March 3, 2005. is in Florida being readied for an attempt to set a world record for the longest nonstop flight. After repairs to a wing damaged Jan. 4 in a ground collision with an airport fuel truck at its home base in Kansas, the airplane was flown last week to NASA's Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics . Sometime either this month or in February, adventurer Steve Fossett James Stephen Fossett (born April 22, 1944 - missing September 3, 2007) is an American aviator, sailor and adventurer. Fossett made his fortune in the financial services industry and is best known for many world records including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a hopes to pilot the aircraft on a nonstop flight of some 29,000 miles. ``I would like to take this opportunity to thank NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. for their support on this attempt and I look forward to climbing back into the cockpit very soon to take off for my next, and most challenging, adventure yet,'' Fossett said. The GlobalFlyer team is shooting to break the distance records of 24,987 miles for the longest aircraft flight, set by the Voyager airplane in 1986, and the 25,361 mile mark set by the balloon Breitling Orbiter Breitling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozière Balloons made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe. The first two balloons never made it, while the third made a successful attempt in 1999. 2 in 1989. GlobalFlyer was designed by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. and built by his Scaled Composites company in Mojave. Rutan also designed the Voyager aircraft. The flight will be piloted by Fossett, who made a 20,373-mile solo nonstop flight around the world in the GlobalFlyer that concluded on March 3. During the attempt for the longest flight, Fossett is expected to pilot the aircraft to altitudes of about 45,000 feet and at speeds faster than 285 mph. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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