He MADE it! There was some lost fuel early in the trip, and there was some concern that Fossett wouldn't make it over the looooong hawaii, west coast of the US leg of the trip.
But, I'm glad to see he did.
Thanks Jane. The Global Flyer Web site is understandably sluggish this morning. I tuned in CNN and they will be covering the landing live (good since they didn't cover the take-off live which was very frustrating).
CNN is calling this a publicity stunt. They are entitled to their take on it, but for many of us it is much more than that. To denigrate this test of human will (as in Steve, Burt and the team -- 'cause this is all done by humans) is very sad. This is acheiving another aviation goal using all of our best technology. While I believe that this would be impossible to achieve without the gps, other technology and a complete mission team, it still does boil down to Steve and the aircraft being up to the job.
This is a dangerous and daunting undertaking -- publicity for Virgin Atlantic, yes. But frankly Sir Richard has also earned his wings the hard way. These folks are true aviators. Just because they have more money than your average airport bums, doesn't make their flying hearts less pure. Heck the Vin-Fiz advertized a soft drink -- does that make Rodgers acheivement less worthy?
I'm very excited by this and to reitierate what I said a few days ago -- Godspeed and happy landings to Steve and all involved.
Thanks Jane. The Global Flyer Web site is understandably sluggish this morning. I tuned in CNN and they will be covering the landing live (good since they didn't cover the take-off live which was very frustrating).
ReplyDeleteCNN is calling this a publicity stunt. They are entitled to their take on it, but for many of us it is much more than that. To denigrate this test of human will (as in Steve, Burt and the team -- 'cause this is all done by humans) is very sad. This is acheiving another aviation goal using all of our best technology. While I believe that this would be impossible to achieve without the gps, other technology and a complete mission team, it still does boil down to Steve and the aircraft being up to the job.
This is a dangerous and daunting undertaking -- publicity for Virgin Atlantic, yes. But frankly Sir Richard has also earned his wings the hard way. These folks are true aviators. Just because they have more money than your average airport bums, doesn't make their flying hearts less pure. Heck the Vin-Fiz advertized a soft drink -- does that make Rodgers acheivement less worthy?
I'm very excited by this and to reitierate what I said a few days ago -- Godspeed and happy landings to Steve and all involved.