May Force Early Landing

REAL TIME UPDATE-- 1245 EST "This is a huge setback. I have not that high a level of confidence at this point."

Those words of gloom came from the cockpit of the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer Wednesday, as the Burt Rutan-built aircraft apparently developed a fuel system problem -- one that has forced the pilot to consider abandoning his attempt at a world record.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the aircraft had developed a fuel leak or had somehow burned extra fuel, but the Global Flyer doesn't have the fuel Fossett had hoped for at this point. Somehow, 2,600 of the 18,100 pounds of fuel on board at the start of the mission has disappeared.

Fossett made his sobering assessment as he crossed the coast of China and over the Yellow Sea, headed for Japan.

"He has insufficient fuel to make it without a tailwind," said project manager Paul Moore.

But the Global Flyer team hasn't yet abandoned all hope. That tailwind is pretty stout at this point -- more than 170 mph, according to Moore.

The fuel problem apparently began early on in the flight. Within hours of Monday night's launch, engineers from the Global Flyer team and Kansas State University at Salina, KS, noticed a difference in the amount of fuel on the gauges and the rate of fuel being burned.

"It's been very puzzling to us," said Jon Karkow, a test pilot and engineer with Scaled Composites, the company that designed and built Global Flyer. "We were unwilling to admit" the fuel was truly missing. Karkow was quoted by the Salina Journal.

Whatever the problem was, it seemed to have resolved itself. The plane's fuel load and fuel burn lined up several hours after launch and have remained in sync since. Karkow suggested to the Journal that the fuel may have simply sloshed out of the vents built into the tanks.

With approximately 5,500 pounds of fuel on board, Fossett's team said he may have to divert to Hawaii instead of completing his attempt to become the first person to ever fly around the world solo without refueling.

"There's only one person who can make that decision, and that's Steve," said Mission Control Director Kevin Stass.

FMI: www.globalflyer.com