Author Topic: Steve Fossett Solo Jet Attempt (Read 1928 times)

Monk · « **Reply #30 on:** March 02, 2005, 11:54:11 AM »

OhOh..........
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/02/globalflyer.fossett/index.html

Maverick · « **Reply #31 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:13:50 PM »

I'm hoping the glitch is just a glitch and not a real problem.

Eagl,

rpm · « **Reply #32 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:41:29 PM »

Why would the onboard guage determine how much fuel they loaded? Don't they normally measure it from the truck?

moose · « **Reply #33 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:49:46 PM »

looks like they didnt pay the poor kid who makes $7 an hour at the ramp enough when he was gassin her up

i hope they can make it nevertheless

rpm · « **Reply #34 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:54:31 PM »

Gimli Glider II?

slimm50 · « **Reply #35 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:14:34 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Cougar68
Best of luck Steve!! Quite an ambitious undertaking for a 60 year old man!

For those that want to follow along - http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/ Site is moving a bit slow now, but it's there.

Cougar

Hmmm. They need more bandwidth. Can't get on the site.

Cougar68 · « **Reply #36 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:27:11 PM »

The site is moving real slow and goes down every now and then. It eventually comes back though.

It's looking like the fuel loss may not prevent the flight from completing. He needs to average a 58 knot tailwind to make it using the numbers they have and he's been getting a bit better than that. They believe it's a systems failure and not an actual fuel loss but they don't want to take a chance.

Cougar

john9001 · « **Reply #37 on:** March 02, 2005, 03:09:08 PM »

fuel guage error, drama, tension, can he make it?

publicty stunt?

SunTracker · « **Reply #38 on:** March 02, 2005, 03:22:10 PM »

If he aborts the mission due to a gauge malfunction, it will be an embarrassment to the U.S. Hardships have been encountered in MANY aviation records:

Apollo 11- Ten seconds of fuel left and the landing site was blocked by a huge crater

Apollo (17?)- Radar altimeter went out, pilot was ready to land it by hand.

Burt Rutan- Engines quit on Voyager and only restarted at less than 2000 feet altitude

Rutan- Space craft went into a hard spin while leaving earths atmosphere.

Stringer · « **Reply #39 on:** March 02, 2005, 03:25:05 PM »

Why the U.S.? It's a private venture financed by Branson.

Actually, why an embarrassment at all? The engineering feat alone is notworthy, throw in how far he's already traveled and I'd say that's far from embarrassing.

Cougar68 · « **Reply #40 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:46:09 PM »

The US is far from having a monopoly on failures during aviation record attempts. I have a hard time with your list of "failures" though. Voyager finished it's round the world trip, when Apollo 11 landed it still had 30 seconds of fuel in the tanks, and while the Rutan spacecraft went into a spin, the pilot was still able to recover and complete the first space flight by a private company. Where's the failure?

Regardless of whether Scott can make it all the way or not, this is a heck of an accomplishment for a privateer.

~~Cougar~~

SunTracker · « **Reply #41 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:54:53 PM »

Your reading comprehension is immaculate. I was listing hardships, not failures.

The fact of the matter is, non-stop around the world flight is not something new. The only difference in this case is that there is only 1 pilot flying the aircraft.

Landing the aircraft and ending the pursuit of the world record, only to realize that it was due to a gauge malfunction would be embarrassing.

Also, in the Guiness book of world records, beside the name of every record holder is the country he is from.

john9001 · « **Reply #42 on:** March 02, 2005, 07:50:48 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SunTracker

The only difference in this case is that there is only 1 pilot flying the aircraft.

as i asked before, is he "flying' the plane all the time, or is he on autopilot, and if he is on autopilot how can you say only one "pilot" flew the plane? is the autopilot not a "pilot"?

Raider179 · « **Reply #43 on:** March 02, 2005, 09:45:15 PM »

At first I thought he didnt have one as he says he is going to be awake for the entire flight but upon searching it does appear he has one.

Moore said Fossett had indicated he plans to stay awake during the entire flight, though he could sleep for brief periods and rely on the autopilot.

http://www.saljournal.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/4665/format/html/displaystory.html

Halo · « **Reply #44 on:** March 02, 2005, 11:05:57 PM »

Autopilot, GPS, chase plane ... it is not Lindy crossing the Atlantic, but still commendable. (Geez, still get worn out watching Jimmy Stewart trying to stay awake in that movie ... )

He's past Hawaii, tailwinds strong, going for successful completion, landing back at Salina today!