Steve Fossett Alters Route in Aviation Quest
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Adventurer Steve Fossett on Friday altered his route over the Atlantic Ocean to make up for lost fuel and weak winds in his quest to break aviation’s distance record.
Fossett originally planned to fly his lightweight experimental plane on a northeasterly path across the Atlantic that would allow Newfoundland to serve as an emergency landing site.
But the adjusted path has Fossett crossing Florida, where he began his nonstop trip early Wednesday, and taking a more southerly path on the flight’s last leg to take advantage of better winds. He planned to land Saturday in Kent, England.
"The guys at mission control are looking at every available jet stream to pick the best speed across the Atlantic possible," Fossett, 61, said in a statement released by his flight team.
Fossett was expected to make a crucial decision Friday night as he flew over Florida about whether to continue with his nearly 27,000-mile trip or abort. Once over the ocean, there will be little opportunity to land the plane if he runs out of fuel.
Winds were expected to be weak across the Atlantic, and Fossett lost about 750 pounds of fuel because of a leak during takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center, leaving no margin for error.
"Fuel, winds, weather … maybe his physical state, how he’s feeling. There are a lot of things to consider," said Brooke Lawer, a spokeswoman for his flight team in England. "There’s a lot to consider that probably are intangibles we wouldn’t understand unless we were in the plane."
Fossett entered North American air space Friday over Mexico’s Baja peninsula and soared over New Mexico and Texas, reaching a height of 51,000 feet.
The voyage would break the airplane distance record of 24,987 miles set in 1986 by the lightweight Voyager aircraft piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager, as well as the balloon record of 25,361 miles set by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard in 1999.
Related Articles:
Steve Fossett Reaches Halfway Mark
Steve Fossett Takes Off on Global Flight
Flight Distance Record May Be Tough to Beat
Fossett Tries to Break Distance Record
—
On the Net: