science · 03 March 2005 · 20 years ago
In 2005, the first solo non-stop and fastest flight around the world without refueling ended as Steve Fossett landed at the Salina Municipal Airport, Kansas. He left there 67 hours earlier on 28 Feb 2005, in The GlobalFlyer, a single-engine, single-use experimental jet plane. The first non-stop two-person flight around the world, was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan in nine days, covering 26,366 miles without refueling. The GlobalFlyer, purpose-built of light composites, carried fuel comprising 86 percent of its weight at take-off in 13 tanks in its long wings and boom tanks. The chief designer, Jon Karkow, had spent five years planning the project, sponsored by Sir Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways.
OnThisDay.net