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Science

Round the World Flight Set for Monday 129

Posted by Zonk from the where-he-stops-nobody-knows dept.
An anonymous reader writes "LiveScience is now reporting that Burt Rutan's GlobalFlyer is set for Monday takeoff. The plane, piloted by Steve Fossett, has been grounded since January by weather. The mission: the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the globe via jet powered craft without refueling." Commentary also available from the BBC.
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Round the World Flight Set for Monday More

Round the World Flight Set for Monday

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  • Good Luck! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kid Zero ( 4866 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:33PM (#11795961) Homepage Journal
    I hope what goes around comes around. :)

    • Re:Good Luck! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by khrtt ( 701691 )
      This would've made great news around 1930, I suppose, but why is it a big deal in the 21st century? Just because noone has done it before doesn't make it difficult. There are many things that noone has done before because they weren't interesting enough for te trouble. These things usually make it into the Guinnes book once someone does them. They don't have to make big news, really.

      • Re:Good Luck! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by chimpo13 ( 471212 )
        It's always easy to bitch about someone doing something. There's plenty of stuff in the Guinness book that's not difficult. This one is more difficult then you realize.

  • Salina, Kansas (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    That's awesome. I'm from Salina, KS and nothing ever happens here. It's about time something cool happened.

  • Other notable Circumnavigation attempts: (Score:5, Informative)

    by GillBates0 ( 664202 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:39PM (#11796000) Homepage Journal
    available in this Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org].

    The first successful nonstop, nonrefueling flight was made by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager [wikipedia.org] in their Scaled Composites Model 76 Voyager back in 1986. That one wasn't solo though.

  • Why is it cool when a rich guy PURCHASES technology and uses it? Had he invented flight, or lightweight materials or the combustion engine or something cool, then I can see it. Like his trip around the world in a balloon, what kid hadn't thought of that before - circling the world in a balloon. He just had the money to do it.

    • Re:Why is this cool? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:44PM (#11796044)
      The pilot is secondary. The aircraft, and its technology, is the key thing. However, Fossett has proven, at least to Rutan, that he is a capable pilot, able to navigate all the way around the world (mostly), by himself. The people who have done that comprises a very short list.

      • Money, money, money... (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Check out the Perlan Project website sometime. Einar, the brains behind that one, is an ex-USAF and NASA test-pilot...but he isn't rich. Fossett was the only one who'd pony up the cash necessary to get it going -- on the condition that he get to be one of the pilots. He ain't no ex-USAF and NASA test pilot, that's for sure, but he sure does love dressing up and playing the Master Aviator, and he has the cash...
    • Well, If this succeeds I'm going to give a lot more credit to Rutan than I am to the pilot, excepting the endurance that the pilot will need in order to do this at all, though that is a fairly critical thing.

      Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites seem to be popular lately, though they've been pushing the envelope now for many, many years. The first time that I heard of Rutan was when he developed his asymetrical "Boomerang" aircraft and it made its debut in 1996, and from then on I've seen him and his company

      • Re:Why is this cool? (Score:2, Informative)

        by Moofie ( 22272 )
        Surely you're aware that Rutan's first design was one that you (YOU!) could literally build in your garage, right?
        • No, I was not aware of that actually. I haven't gone into real depth on his designs, because so much is presented whenever something newly-cool happens that I haven't had to.

          I'll have to check it out.

    • Re:Why is this cool? (Score:5, Funny)

      by flyingsquid ( 813711 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:13PM (#11796277)
      Why is it cool when a rich guy PURCHASES technology and uses it?

      Hel-LO, but isn't that exactly what Batman does? And Batman's cool!

      • Batman designs and builds his own equipment - at least insofar as a fictitous character does anything. That's what that big underground lab in the caves is all about.

  • For my next trick (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lcnxw ( 743741 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:40PM (#11796013) Homepage
    a nonstop solo flight around the world twice blindfolded without a parachute with my eyes closed.

    why do we need to keep proving that yes, we _can_ fly planes and do amazing feats.

  • Frequent Flyer Miles (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bender0x7D1 ( 536254 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:40PM (#11796014)
    Hopefully he gets some frequent flyer miles for this trip. It would be great if he could go back to the places he flew over and actually visit them.

  • Pfft. (Score:4, Informative)

    by ColonelFubster ( 758353 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:41PM (#11796022) Homepage Journal
    Hal & Viola Leveller fly to Laughlin, Nevada from Southern California every week without refueling. And you don't see them being the subject of an article on Slashdot.

    • Re:Pfft. (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Who the hell are Hal & Viola Leveller and how is this even remotely informative?

    • Hal and Viola Leveller (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Hal and Viola Leveller are characters on the Phil Hendrie radio show [philhendrieshow.com]. The recurring gag is that they call in to the show during their flight to Laughlin, and get into very animated discussions with Phil when they should be concentrating on flying their plane.

      It's not the funniest skit on the show, but it is mildly entertaining. I personally prefer Phil's commentary to his skits.

  • first with a Jet engine (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bart van der Ouderaa ( 32503 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:46PM (#11796062)
    Burt was the first with an airplane, but it was powered by props. Steve is trying to be the first with a jet engine. A single jet engine in this case.

  • 'Round the World in 80 Hours (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bitwaba ( 807272 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:47PM (#11796082)
    "The around-the-world flight should be completed inside 80 hours" Jules Verne thought 80 days was hard to pull off. Imagine what he would think of this.
  • "The plane, piloted by Steve Fossett, has been grounded since January by weather." Does he expect to have nice weather around the entire globe? No wonder it's taking so long.

    • Re:Blue skies (Score:2, Insightful)

      by cmd ( 56100 )
      During launch the plane is so loaded with fuel that it can barely liftoff. Yes, they do need good weather for this. Once airborne they//// he can fly over most weather and (hopefully) avoid the rest.
    • They're taking off from Kansas State University-Salina, which is almost dead center Kansas. It seems that every week they cancel the thing because of bad weather. It's friggin' Kansas in February, of course it's going to be bad weather!! But on the other hand, they cancel it a day or so in advance when they could just wait five minutes for the weather to change.....

  • woo woo (Score:3, Informative)

    by jbridge21 ( 90597 ) <jeffrey+slashdot AT firehead DOT org> on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:56PM (#11796143) Journal
    flight tracking via gpsd [firehead.org]
  • The first human-powered non-stop round the world trip?

    • The first remotely-controlled non-stop circumnavigation. And the first autonomous non-stop 'round the world trip. Both will happen in my lifetime. I actually think the former is harder than the latter, unless one has Milstar [af.mil] at their disposal.
    • Oh great--then we'd have to hear: "I just flew around the world...and boy are my arms tired."

  • Much better link (Score:5, Informative)

    by caryw ( 131578 ) <carywiedemann@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Sunday February 27, 2005 @03:58PM (#11796169) Homepage
    Much more information suitable to the slashdot crowd is available at:
    http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/ [virginatla...lflyer.com]
    We don't like press releases or watered down news articles.
    Also, I bet the US government has some recon plane that has/can do something like this. I know it's possible with mid-air refueling but I bet they can do it without. Just my $0.02
    - Cary
    --Fairfax Underground [fairfaxunderground.com]: Where Fairfax County comes out to play
    • There's that high altitude solar powered plane, can stay up 24/7 IIRC.
    • The closest thing to what you describe is Helios [wikipedia.org], the autonomous solar-powered aircraft mentioned by the other commentor, though even at 100,000 feet it'd be awefully easy to shoot down with modern missiles. A more conventional round-the-world airplane like Voyager or Global Flyer has to be so light weight it would be useless as a spyplane, those cameras and their optics are BIG.
  • Yet another "around the world" trip that's not around the equator, and just follows the jet stream.

    I can grab the north pole and run "around" the world in 2 seconds, and it would be just as valid as their definition - i.e. lame.

    But still, cool toys :)

    • That's so NOT true ! The FAI's rules state that a record attempt like this must start and finish at the same airfield and cross all meridians of the globe. What's more the course must not be less than the very precise figure of 36,787.559 kilometres (around 23,000 miles) which is equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer. To allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to catch the vital jet stream winds, the FAI rules don't oblige that record attempts follow the imaginary line of the Tropic itself but simply that
    • That's so NOT true ! The FAI's rules state that a record attempt like this must start and finish at the same airfield and cross all meridians of the globe. What's more the course must not be less than the very precise figure of 36,787.559 kilometres (around 23,000 miles) which is equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer. To allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to catch the vital jet stream winds, the FAI rules don't oblige that record attempts follow the imaginary line of the Tropic itself but simply that
    • The formal definition of a 'round the world' is that it must pass over 2 points that are diametrically opposed on the globe, cross every line of longitude, with a landing location at or 'past' the point of departure, defined as either landing at or overflying the point of departure after completing the other requirements. That doesn't mean around the equator. Your 'run around the north pole' will qualify, if, it also includes a pass over the south pole, and returns you to the point of departure, landing t
    • Does it count if he flies in the opposite direction the earth rotates? Because then really all he has to do is hover above the ground for 24 hours and he's golden.

  • Does the pilot sleep? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rauchbier ( 745414 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:05PM (#11796224)
    It is an 80 hour trip - when does the pilot sleep? Does he use an auto pilot?
    • Chocolate covered coffee beans and a dash mounted espresso machine...

      I wonder if his cockpit will look like my car after a long drive - empty cups and wrappers strewn on the floor with a pile of loose CDs on the passenger seat (he'll have to use the floor or the dash)...

      -----------
      !!Danger!! Dissolves Fish

    • Re:Does the pilot sleep? (Score:5, Informative)

      by balster neb ( 645686 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @09:44PM (#11799090)
      According to the BBC article, he will be getting next to no sleep.

      Apparently he's pretty used to feats of endurance, and he holds records in aviation and sailing. Due to the nature of the aircraft and the flying conditions, he will constantly have to be at the controls. The only sleep he expects is in the form of 5 minute naps, for which an autopilot backup and countdown alarm will be available.

      His voyage will only take around 80 hours. The first around the world flight [wikipedia.org] of this sort (in 1986) took about 9 days. The two pilots had to work in short shifts, but were severely fatigued at the end of the journey. This solo journey is possible for Steve Fossett because he is using a jet engine.
    • Good question. And doesn't the FAA, for example, have flight limits like a pilot may not fly more than x hours at a time, and not more than y hours in z days? I'm too lazy to look up the numbers, but I am pretty sure there are limits. And I imagine that other countries have similar rules. Does anybody know how this guy is getting around those rules? Is he somehow avoiding flying over countries with those rules? Did he somehow get an exemption or something?
  • Is there someway that we can see the planned route or route-in-progress via some data feed in GPSylon [sourceforge.net]?

    Besides just being cool to see this with a free tool, I'd like to see what sort of path qualifies as circumnavigation.

    Obviously a round the world flight over Antarctica wouldn't qualify, but by staying in the Northern hemisphere and using the jet stream it would seem to abbreviate the full distance of the earth's circumference. (No doubt I'll get flamed by some people better informed than I, but I'm just

  • What I'd like to know is how he plans on staying awake for the 75+ hours the flight will take. Amphetamines like the Navy jet fighters do it?

  • Clarification about around the world (Score:4, Informative)

    by Foo2rama ( 755806 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @07:51PM (#11798177) Homepage Journal
    The FAI's rules state that a record attempt like this must start and finish at the same airfield and cross all meridians of the globe. What's more the course must not be less than the very precise figure of 36,787.559 kilometres (around 23,000 miles) which is equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer. To allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to catch the vital jet stream winds, the FAI rules don't oblige that record attempts follow the imaginary line of the Tropic itself but simply that the distance flown exceeds it.

    with FAI being Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) - the world's air sports federation.

    Go Rutan, first non-stop around the world (voyager.) First Civilain plane into space (spaceship one,)and now this

    This also does not include his incredibly well known kitbuilt aircraft long and veri ez's [eaa.org], the Beech starship [bobscherer.com], or the numerous military projects he has done.

    Rutan will most likly go down as one the most important aircraft designers of all time. [scaled.com]
  • im actually going to school at kansas state salina and i have seen the global flyer close up. they shut down our cafeteria to set up their 'hq'... here are some pics. pic 1 [webshots.com] pic 2 [webshots.com]

  • Some finer points (Score:3, Interesting)

    by codeButcher ( 223668 ) on Monday February 28, 2005 @04:06AM (#11800988)
    Popular Mechanics had a nice article [popularmechanics.com] the other day about this, which clears up some questions:
    • According to Fosset (the designated pilot for this mission) Dick Rutan (co-pilot of the previous circumnavigation together with Jeana Yeager, and older brother of designer Burt), they met at a party at Barron Hilton's in 1999 and Rutan told Fosset: "Steve, you could do me one better; you could do it solo."
    • The plane would have to carry a ratio of 83% fuel to body weight on takeoff. Mass (and structural safety margins) where cut seriously for this, consequently the plane will only fly once with full weight (a number of test flights have been done with less weight in fuel).
    • Fossett intends to fly route without sleep, but off the American West Coast would be a good place to nap (with autopilot on) to increase alertness for descent and landing. It seems that outside of takeoff and landing, the guy would not have much more to do than monitor dials and make the off adjustment.
    • The Fédération Aéronatique Internationale, which governs air sports records, requires a 22,858-mile minimum for the record attempt. So a simple equatorial circumnavigation will not do the trick, and Fossett will fly a huge turn south over the Eastern Pacific to add the required miles.

  • Speaking of circumnavigation.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by MtViewGuy ( 197597 ) on Monday February 28, 2005 @09:25AM (#11802035)
    ...I've heard that Boeing plans to do a very spectacular long-distance flight with the new 777-200 Long Range model.

    It sounds like Boeing might try to fly a 777-200LR with a completely stripped-out interior and loading it down with the weight equivalent of the interior parts plus standard cargo load in pre-cooled Jet A fuel. That could make it possible for the 777-200LR to fly as much as 13,000 nautical miles or so.

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