Steve Fossett Spirit of Freedom, PPRuNe is there in spirit.

[gaunty]

Hi PPruNers every where.

Steve Fossett is on his way and with the best wishes of all us PPRuNers.

He was presented with a PPRuNe pin and the best wishes of us all. Not surprisingly we were known to his Project Director and his Citation X crew now are.

A brilliant perfect launch and his progress can be monitored by telemetry in real time here;

Steve Fossett and the Spirit of Freedom (http://www.spiritoffreedom.com./)

Sign up for the email updates and send him your words of encouragement as a fellow professional and PPRuNer.

Dunnunda and Godzone Forum has the good goss on the launch from Northam near Perth Western Australia and fellow PPRuners involvement.

[brockenspectre]

gaunty great link thanks!

:D

[gofer]

Spirit of Freedom's progress

At almost 75% of the way around the world in just over 11 days and ZERO power and on his own, Steve's attempt has to rate amongst the great feats of man, science and aviation.

What surprises me is that the members of this forum, just like the news media that they sometimes take to serious task and accuse of dealing in hot-air, seem to be totally ignoring this very gallent attempt on one of man's and flight's last frontiers.:)

THANKS GAUNTY.... Click here for the >> Spirit of Freedom (http://www.spiritoffreedom.com./)

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frontier - what frontier - up here there is nothing but sky, sun and clouds

[Ranger One]

No disrespect to Fosset - quite the reverse in fact, bloody good effort - but it should be mentioned that these guys also have considerable balls:

http://www.qinetiq1.com/content/index.html

132,000 ft in a (very high-tech) open basket? Sooner them than me...

R1

[ETOPS]

Map shows 76% complete and only the southern Indian Ocean to go!

It will be a tremendous acheivement and well deserved.....

[capt waffoo]

Dead impressive for sure, but I'm not entirely convinced that circling a pole at 40ish degreees of latitude constitutes "flying round the world". The mileage is nowhere near a true circumnavigation.

Far less impresive is that his support (publicity) team have such faulty geographic knowledge that they think he was near "Durbin" in S Africa. Oh dear. Are they American, by any chance?

All the same, the very best of luck to a plucky and tenacious adventurer.

[Ranger One]

ASFKAP:

Keyboard!

:)

R1

[V1GO]

Yes, Capt Wafoo made a good point there! Can somebody clarify the fact that this circumnavigation is made around 40°S Latitude, without crossing the equator!

As Wafoo said, this is far much less than the full earthrounders milage of 21600NM or 40000KM! About 16500NM i.s.o. 21600NM!

May be I'll try a tour around on the 89°N Latitude tommorow, might be done in an hour or so.....Just joking!

My question: What is the minimum milage needed to be in the record books as an earthrounder, be it balloon or aircraft? Think I read something about crossing the equator minimum twice or so....Anybody a clue?

By the way, Fosset's flight is of course very admirable, even at 40°S!



:cool:

[Pom Pax]

Current telemetry
2002-07-01 02:53:00 UTC
Latitude 34° 4.5' S Longitude 55° 8.69' E
Altitude 25300 ft Speed 145.2 mi/hr Heading 108.92°
Distance 16019.1 mi Duration 12 d 01:16:00
82% Complete

:confused: Rules seem a bit flexible, basically you must stay between 60 N. & S. but it is possible to create a virtual pole to measure from. So if you are at 70 S. on the Greenwich meridien you must be North of 50 S. at 180 E. In the South Atlantic the drift path went as far as 62 or 63 S. :confused:

Fast motoring now
2002-07-01 05:53:11 UTC
Latitude 36° 14.93' S Longitude 62° 24.74' E
Altitude 28800 ft Speed 191.7 mi/hr
Heading 110.98° Distance 16456 mi
Duration 12 d 04:16:11 84% Complete

[Desert Dingo]

Seems like consumption of the sponsor's product has been a bit excessive if they don't know the difference between heading and track. :p
How do you work out the heading of a round thingy like a balloon anyway? :confused:

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

In a balloon it's easy:

Heading == Track :D

[Desert Dingo]

Heading == Track
That means they are not making any allowance for drift!
They could miss Australia by miles!
Someone should tell them. :eek:

[Rollingthunder]

A great endeavour.

Just been listening to his Mission Control Director talking about perhaps being driven south and missing the island of Australia and being driven south to the Arctic. Struth.

[Desert Dingo]

Ye Gods! Their navigation is worse than I thought.
Going south to to get to the Arctic. Now there’s a round-the-world flight for you! :D
However, I think it is more likely to be a “hero cheats death by inches” beat-up by their publicity machine. The latest news, once you get past the innumerable references to the sponsor, seem to indicate a landing predicted near the Nullabor plain.

[BOROUGH COUNCIL]

This is bloody exciting stuff! With only seconds to go before he finishes the full circle, my adrenalin is pumping! Unlike sports such as darts, curling, and cricket, I'm finding these final few seconds as exhilarating as the worldcup final! How can a baloon create such excitment? Maybe its like a great book, never before has the main character deserved his victory so much. I really want Steve to achieve his dream! Happy Landings.