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Adventurer Steve Fossett climbs out of
the cockpit on the runway at Salina, Kansas. The final figures
are in for Fossett's epic solo flight around
the world and the American aviator will make it
into the record books with just miles to
spare(AFP/Carl de
Souza) | |
Flying from horizon to horizon, Steve Fossett
completed the first nonstop, flight 'round-the-world without refueling on
Thursday afternoon, landing gracefully in Kansas at 2:49 pm ET.
A cheering crowd gathered to usher the GlobalFlyer and its 60-year-old
pilot into the record books, something that has become almost routine for
Fossett in recent years. The aviator now holds three record-breaking circumnavigations of the globe, the
two others by balloon and sailboat.
"It's something I've wanted to do for a long time," Fossett said as he
stepped out of the plane, his legs wobbly after nearly three days in
the cockpit. "It has been a major ambition of mine."
The sometimes tense journey across three oceans and dozens of countries
began in Salina, Kansas, on Monday evening. The 25,000-mile (40,234
kilometer) voyage took 67 hours and two minutes. It was financed by
Fossett's longtime friend and investor, Richard Branson, who heads Virgin
Atlantic Airways.
As GlobalFlyer approached the airport, Fossett deployed small
parachutes to slow the craft down.
After touching down smoothly, Fossett taxied the plane toward a hangar and Branson
waved a black-and-white checkered flag as the jet came to a stop.
Fossett's flight team opened a bottle of champagne onto the runway.
GlobalFlyer was built by Scaled Composites, the same firm that designed
and launched the world's first civilian manned spacecraft, SpaceShipOne,
last year.
Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer and head of Scaled Composites, said the
plane, and the pilot, performed admirably.
Despite the successful homecoming, the GlobalFlyer encountered dark
moments during its flight.
At one point, controllers thought the plane would run out of fuel far
short of its target. Fossett and the GlobalFlyer team considered
abandoning the trip when they were over Hawaii on Wednesday because the
experimental plane came up about 2,600 pounds of fuel short after taking
off. The jet burns 102 pounds of fuel per hour. The team speculated that
fuel was vented from four
tanks shortly after takeoff.
Fossett decided to press on
because of favorable tail winds.
"If I have engine trouble, there will be no trouble with gliding,"
Fossett had said earlier in the day before landing.
When more data arrived from the aircraft, projections showed the fuel
would propel the aircraft throughout its entire 25,000-mile trip.
(BBC) |
這是一次從地平線開始，到地平線結(jié)束的飛行——本周四（3月3日）下午，美國富翁史蒂夫·福塞特在沒有燃油補給的情況下，完成了世界上首次不間斷環(huán)球飛行，并于美國東部時間下午2點49分風度翩翩地降落在堪薩斯州。
興高采烈的人群聚集在“環(huán)球飛行者”號和這位60歲高齡的駕駛員身邊，見證這一壯舉載入世界記錄。近年來，對福塞特來說，這幾乎已是見慣不驚了。如今這位飛行家已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造并保持了三項環(huán)球航行的世界記錄，另外兩項分別是駕駛熱氣球和帆船環(huán)球旅行。
福塞特一下飛機就說：“這是我長期以來一直想做的事。這是我的一大抱負?！庇捎趯⒔鞎r間一直呆在駕駛艙里，他的腿有點發(fā)抖，站立不穩(wěn)。
周一（2月28日）晚上，這次時而緊張的旅行從堪薩斯州的薩利納開始，穿越三大洋和十幾個國家，用時67小時零2分，完成了2.5萬英里（4.0234萬公里）的路程。福塞特的老朋友、維珍大西洋航空公司董事長理查德·布蘭森出資贊助了此次環(huán)球旅行。
“環(huán)球飛行者”號抵達機場時，福塞特用了小降落傘來延緩飛機降落的速度。
飛機平穩(wěn)著陸后，福塞特將飛機緩慢滑行到飛機棚里。當飛機就要停下來時，布蘭森揮舞著一面黑白方格的旗子向福塞特致意，而籌備福塞特之行的“飛之隊”在跑道上打開一瓶香檳。
“環(huán)球飛行者”號是Scaled聯(lián)合公司去年生產(chǎn)的，這家公司還設(shè)計開發(fā)了世界上第一艘民用載人飛船“太空飛船一號”。
航空工程師、Scaled聯(lián)合公司總裁伯特·魯坦說，飛機和飛行員的表現(xiàn)都極為出色，令人贊嘆。
盡管“環(huán)球飛行者”號成功歸航，但它在飛行途中也遭遇過黑暗的時刻。
（地面）控制者們曾一度認為飛機可能會在到達目的地之前出現(xiàn)燃料短缺問題。本周三，飛機飛至夏威夷上空時，福塞特和“飛之隊”甚至考慮過放棄這次航行，因為這架實驗飛機在起飛后突然出現(xiàn)了大約2600磅的燃油短缺，而這架飛機每小時要燃燒102磅燃料。據(jù)“飛之隊”推測，飛機起飛后不久，四個油箱就發(fā)生了燃料泄露。
由于當時的順風天氣比較有利，福塞特決定克服困難加緊趕路。
福塞特在著陸前一天就說：“如果我遇到引擎故障，我也可以靠滑翔繼續(xù)。”
當“飛之隊”獲得來自飛機的更多數(shù)據(jù)后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)事實上所余燃料可以支持飛機完成2.5萬英里的航行。
（中國日報網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2005-03-07 09:45