Takes Off From Salina On Latest Record Flight

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett took off from Salina Municipal Airport Tuesday morning on his latest quest to put his name in the record books -- this time around, for the longest closed-circuit distance flight.

Fossett's Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer lifted off at 6:40 am in excellent weather, on a flight that Fossett expects will return him to Salina in about 78 hours -- thus giving him the closed-circuit record that eluded him on his original solo round-the-world flight just over one year ago.

Perhaps most importantly, problems that had plagued the early stages of Fossett's two previous record-breaking flights in the GlobalFlyer -- fuel loss on takeoff, and excessive cabin temperatures -- didn't crop up this time around, according to mission control at Kansas State University - Salina.

A small crowd of less than 20 people saw Fossett off on his latest quest, according to the Kansas City Star -- much smaller than last year's gathering for the AROTW flight, or the crowd that gathered at Kennedy Space Center in February when Fossett took off for the Ultimate Flight.

"I’m an aviation enthusiast," said Andrew Smith, an assistant professor of aviation maintenance at Kansas State University’s Salina campus. "This is history in the making and I didn’t want to miss it."

For his latest adventure, Fossett will pilot the GlobalFlyer on a route similar to the AROTW flight -- but he'll add several S-turns to the route to increase the mileage. The current closed-circuit record of 24,931 miles is held by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, who piloted Voyager on the original nonstop round-the-world flight in 1986.

As of this writing, Fossett is over the Atlantic Ocean, after crossing over Newfoundland.

FMI: www.salina.k-state.edu/globalflyer/