Fossett made it around-the-world with just miles to spare

SALINA, Kansas - The final figures are in for Steve Fossett's epic solo flight around the world and the American aviator will make it into the record books with just miles to spare.
After a busy night of calculating flight data, organizers here said Friday that Fossett traveled a total of 19,880 nautical miles (22,877 miles or 36,817 kilometers), about 17 nautical miles (19 miles or 30 kilometers) farther than required.
To make it officially around the world, Fossett needed to do more than just touch back down where he took off in Salina, Kansas, after flying over the United States, Canada, the Middle East, India, China, Japan and Hawaii.
He needed to travel a distance equal or greater to the length of the Tropic of Cancer -- 22,858 miles or 36,787 kilometers.
Fossett covered that distance -- and slightly more -- in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in 67 hours, one minute and 46 seconds, organizers said, revising the official times released on Fossett's landing here on Thursday.
"It was quite a sensation to be covering that much distance," Fossett told reporters. "I'm just delighted that it turned out and the project was successful on the very first attempt."
Fossett departed from Salina Municipal Airport on Monday at 6:47 pm (0047 GMT Tuesday) and touched down at 1:48 pm Thursday (1948 GMT) to the sound of the local high school marching band and cheers from a welcoming crowd of thousands.
The first person to circumnavigate the globe on a non-stop, non-refueled solo flight said he expects the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer will tour aviation shows so the public can catch a glimpse of the plane.
He is also currently in negotiations with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington to donate the GlobalFlyer to the museum's collection.
The project's website generated 130 million hits in the final 24 hours of the flight.
During the course of his journey, Fossett reached speeds of 400 miles per hour (648 kilometers) and altitudes of over 49,500 feet (15,000 meters) at an average speed of about 345 miles per hour (559 kilometers per hour.)
The GlobalFlyer was designed by aviation legend Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne won the 10 million dollar "X Prize" last year for sending a privately-designed craft into space twice in two weeks.
Rutan also designed the Voyager, which was used by his brother Dick Rutan and Jeanne Yeager in 1986 to fly around the world without stopping or refueling in nine days.
Fossett's flight was bankrolled by Virgin Atlantic founder and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, who has set a number of aviation and sailing records of his own.
Fossett has teamed up with Branson a number of times in the past, and said that he may do so again on his next project, which he expects to announce in a few months.

03/04/2005 18:54 GMT