Winds Looks Good Across Pacific... Less So After

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 02.09.06 2045EST: Steve Fossett has hit the halfway point in his planned 26,000-plus-mile Ultimate Flight, and has just begun to cross the Pacific en route to North America. He is also feeling more comfortable to boot, as the temperature in the GlobalFlyer cockpit is now dropping because the aircraft is getting lighter, meaning that the engine does not have to work so hard.

Controllers state the high cockpit temperatures during the first 24 hours were reportedly caused by a malfunction in the ventilation cooling system. Steve was forced to endure temperatures of up to 130F and so drank a significant amount of the 10 liters of water on board -- but now he’s sitting in a more comfortable 60F.

With Thursday morning's revelation that as many as 750 lbs of fuel leaked from the aircraft during its long climb to altitude Wednesday, controllers are focusing on getting a helping hand from the jetstream to help make up for the loss -- and it's a good news/bad news situation. Winds across the Pacific look strong, but the forecasted winds over the Atlantic are looking weak -- meaning Fossett may not have enough fuel for the second, and final, Atlantic leg of the trip.

The team is currently working out a route which will maximize the wind speeds, and getting permission to fly this alternate route.

"The winds over the Atlantic will be crucial and the team at Mission Control is working round the clock analyzing the movements of the jet streams," said controller Jon Karkow. "Steve will continue to search out the best winds; even the smallest increase in speed will bring the Record closer."

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 02.09.06 1130EST: As he threads his way over the border of India and Bangladesh, it's likely Steve Fossett is experiencing a sense of unwelcome deja vu -- as it now appears his Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer lost fuel during its first day of flight.

While the fuel loss isn't as severe as a similar problem Fossett experienced during his original round-the-world flight last year -- about 750 lbs of fuel were lost, according to the Ultimate Flight mission control center, versus over 3,000 lbs lost on his successful global circumnavigation -- it may make the final leg of Fossett's adventure a little closer to the margins than many would have liked.

"We have a lower chance than we thought we had before we launched," Chief Engineer Jon Karkow said in a Wednesday press conference. "I think it's not a sure thing."

The fuel loss, Karkow said, equals about 1,000 nautical miles of lost range. That wipes out the margin of 500 lbs of fuel the team thought Fossett would have at the end of a successful flight.

In an effort to conserve fuel usage in the glider-like GlobalFlyer, mission controllers are telling Fossett to ease off the throttle.

"He hasn't been able to fly as slowly as I would like him to and everytime I call I say go slower," said Clint Nichols of Scaled Composites, which designed and built the GlobalFlyer. "Steve is working really hard to fly at the optimum speed, which will change as the weight of the plane changes and will always be getting slower."

As of 1115 EST Wednesday, Fossett was flying just above 46,000 feet at an average groundspeed of 300 kts -- about 30 kts slower than his best speed yesterday.

After weathering turbulence over Central India, the team expected Fossett to pick up a welcome tailwind in the jetstream over China later in the day.

In addition to the fuel loss -- as well as a few scary moments after the aircraft struck two birds on takeoff -- Fossett also had to suffer through cabin temperatures as high as 130 degrees Fahrenheit as he climbed to cruising altitude. The temp remained above 105 for eight hours -- and while the cabin temperature has since gone down, the extreme heat required Fossett to drink more water than he had expected to by this point.

While there are several factors working against Fossett's bid to fly 26,000 miles nonstop -- a longer distance than any aircraft has ever accomplished -- the team isn't ready to give up yet.

"The last bit of the flight is going to be pretty interesting," said Mission Director Kevin Stass, adding he still believes Fossett has an "extremely good" chance of going the distance.

"This is an experimental plane,'' Karkow added. "She's proving that she has many mysteries."

FMI: www.globalflyer.com