Round-the-World Stunt Lands Aviator a Record

Adventurer Steve Fossett piloted his Global- Flyer to a picture-perfect landing here Thursday 67 hours after taking off, becoming the first pilot to circle the globe nonstop, alone and without refueling.

Fossett stayed awake by drinking a dozen chocolate protein milkshakes as he set several world records on his more than 23,000-mile mission, registering as the fastest nonstop flight around the world.

“That’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time,” said Fossett, 60, shortly after squeezing out of the tiny cockpit before a raucous crowd of about 5,000. “I’ve achieved my ambition.”

After landing, Fossett exchanged high-fives with British billionaire Richard Branson, a longtime friend who financed the project and commissioned the legendary Mojave aircraft designer Burt Rutan to build the catamaran-shaped plane. It was powered by a single jet engine.

“Can you walk?” Branson asked Fossett before spraying him with champagne.

The flight marked the second major privately funded aerospace event since the fall with a Rutan design. In October Rutan’s SpaceShipOne rocket soared into the edge of space on a suborbital flight and back with a single pilot, claiming a $10-million prize.

Fossett’s round-the-world solo flight was done for the technological and human endurance challenge, with no prize money involved.

In recent decades most aviation records have been set by commercial aircraft or government-funded space missions. Aviation enthusiasts applauded Fossett’s exploit as a reminder of the early days of flight when adventurous pilots frequently broke records, became instant celebrities and drew front-page newspaper headlines and massive crowds.

In Fossett’s case, much of the town of Salina showed up at the airport to welcome him, including a high school marching band and several people holding up signs that read: “Go Go Global- Flyer!”

“It’s the biggest thing that ever happened in our lives,” said Amber Windholz, a 17-year-old baton twirler for the band.

The first plane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop without refueling also was designed by Rutan, the Voyager in 1986. But that aircraft was powered by two propeller engines and flown by two pilots taking turns. And it took nine days to fly around the world.

Fossett began his journey Monday at 6:47 p.m. CST when the craft, with a 114-foot wingspan took off from the Salina Municipal Airport with 18,000 pounds of fuel -- about 82% of the aircraft’s weight.

Salina was chosen mainly because its runway was one of the longest in the Midwest, and because it allowed Fossett to spend the last segment of his mission over land.

Initially, planners considered basing the flight out of the Mojave Airport where the airplane was built and tested. But that would have meant the most dangerous part of the trip would have been over the Pacific Ocean.

To break the world record Fossett had to fly the craft more than 22,858 miles, or the same circumference as the Tropic of Cancer, and pass a dozen waypoints. He flew west to east, traveling over Montreal; Bangor, Maine; London; Cairo; Karachi, Pakistan; Shanghai; Honolulu and Los Angeles.

During the flight, Fossett drank protein milkshakes, which minimized bowel movements while providing nutrition. He also took a half-dozen catnaps ranging from one to three minutes.

A millionaire and former options trader in Chicago, Fossett has broken 60 aviation records, competed in triathlons and the 1,100-mile Iditarod race in Alaska. In 2002 he became the first pilot to make a solo, nonstop hot air balloon trip around the world in 13 days and 8 hours.

Beside the fastest and the longest records Fossett has broken, the Tennessee native also set the world record for the slowest swim across the English Channel, completing the 21-mile ocean swim in 22 hours.

“Steve is a different animal than most of us,” Rutan said.

At 1:49 p.m. CST on Thursday, Fossett landed the Global- Flyer on the same runway where he took off 67 hours, 2 minutes and 38 seconds earlier. The gas tank caps and the cockpit door still had the same adhesive tape that been applied before the flight as a way a way to verify there were no surreptitious refueling stops.

The trip had tense moments. Problems with some equipment jeopardized the mission at the onset and toward the end.

Early in the flight, Fossett had to rely on directions from mission control because of problems with the aircraft’s global positioning system, which provided the aircraft’s geographic location.

Then toward the end, as he flew past Japan and began the trek across the Pacific Ocean, gauges showed that the airplane had lost 2,600 pounds of fuel. Fossett decided to continue after the airplane picked up strong tailwinds that reached 160 miles per hour.

“We got beautiful tailwinds over the Pacific,” said Rutan. “If we didn’t have the tailwinds we would not have made it.”

Fossett looked refreshed after he landed. But one of his first wishes, he said, was to be able to “sleep for a full day.”

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Hart reported from Kansas and Pae reported from Los Angeles.