"Aviation Hall of Fame. He was presented at the ceremony by Dick Rutan. In 1997, Fossett was inducted into the Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame. In February 2002, Fossett was named America's Rolex Yachtsman of the Year by the American Sailing Association at the New York Yacht Club. He was the oldest recipient of the award in its 41-year history, and the only recipient to fly himself to the ceremony in his own plane. He received the Explorers Medal from the Explorers Club following his solo balloon circumnavigation. He was given the Diplôme de Montgolfier by the Fédération Aéronautique"
"in 2 days, 19 hours, 1 minute and 46 seconds. , this is the fastest world trip in its class at a speed of 550.78 km/h. The distance flown was determined to be , only above the minimum distance required. Steve Fossett planned a second circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer in 2006, this time taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flying eastbound around the world then crossing the Atlantic a second time and then landing at Kent International Airport in Kent, England. The objective was to break the Absolute Distance Without Landing Record for airplanes and to exceed"
"a single jet engine, completed the first solo non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world with adventurer Steve Fossett as pilot. Reducing weight was critical to the design, and Rutan is quoted as facetiously telling his staff that when they finish building a part, they must throw it up in the air for a weight test, and ""If it comes down, it's too heavy"". Between February 7, 2006 – February 11, 2006, Fossett and the GlobalFlyer set a record for the longest flight in history: , the third absolute world record set with this aircraft before being flown to the NASM"
"were previously held by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager from their flight in the Voyager in 1986. Fossett contributed the ""GlobalFlyer"" to the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection. It is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Fossett flew the plane to the Center and taxied the plane to the front door. Fossett set two U.S. transcontinental fixed-wing aircraft records in the same day. On February 5, 2003, Fossett and co-pilot Doug Travis flew his Cessna Citation X jet from San Diego, California to Charleston, South Carolina in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 20 seconds,"
"Triangle and the longest Straight Distance flights. His achievements as a jet pilot in a Cessna Citation X include records for U.S. Transcontinental, Australia Transcontinental, and Round-the-World westbound non-supersonic flights. Prior to Fossett's aviation records, no pilot had held world records in more than one class of aircraft; Fossett held them in four classes. In 2005, Fossett made the first solo, nonstop unrefueled circumnavigation of the world in an airplane, in 67 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a single-engine jet aircraft. In 2006, he again circumnavigated the globe nonstop and unrefueled in 76 hours, 45 minutes in the ""GlobalFlyer"","
"2006, Fossett was one of only 17 pilots in the world licensed to fly the Zeppelin. Fossett made the first solo nonstop unrefueled fixed-wing aircraft flight around the world between February 28 and March 3, 2005. He took off from Salina, Kansas, where he was assisted by faculty members and students from Kansas State University, and flew eastbound with the prevailing winds, returning to Salina after 67 hours, 1 minute, 10 seconds, without refueling or making intermediate landings. His average speed of was also the absolute world record for ""speed around the world, nonstop and non-refueled."" His aircraft, the Virgin"
"most accomplished speed sailor."" On the maxi-catamaran Cheyenne (formerly named ""PlayStation""), Fossett twice set the prestigious 24 Hour Record of Sailing. In October 2001, Fossett and his crew set a transatlantic record of 4 days 17 hours, shattering the previous record by 43 hours 35 minutes; an increase in average speed of nearly seven knots. In early 2004, Fossett, as skipper, set the Around the world sailing record of 58 days, 9 hours in ""Cheyenne"" with a crew of 13. In 2007, Fossett held the world record for crossing the Pacific Ocean in his sailboat, the ""PlayStation"", which he accomplished"
"as a broken aileron hinge and a jammed intake valve, but otherwise the aircraft survived intact. Steve Fossett flew the GlobalFlyer to one more major aviation record: the absolute distance over a closed circuit. A closed-circuit record must take off and land at the same place, and the distance is measured over verifiable waypoints. Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager had already flown the Voyager around the world in 1986, so a longer closed circuit course was needed to break their record. Fossett started in Salina, Kansas on March 14, 2006 and flew eastbound around the world. Upon leaving Japan, he"
"adventurer and balloonist Steve Fossett also established a world record in high-speed sailing on the catamaran ""PlayStation"" (34m length) in 2001. Together with Gunnar Struckmann as crew Roland Gäbler won the German championship, the Volvo Champions Race and the Kiel Week 2005 - Gäblers fifth success in this competition. Together they sailed the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 (11. place). Since 2009 Roland Gäbler has been sailing with his wife Nahid Gäbler. They straight away won the Travemünde Week and the German championship 2009. In 2010 they won the World Championship in Tornado sailing - as first mixed team"
"Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer (registered N277SF) is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in a little less than 77 hours. The flight speed of 551 kph set the world record for the fastest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation, beating the mark set by the previous Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft at 9 days 3 minutes and a top speed of 196 kmh. The aircraft was owned by the pilot Steve Fossett, sponsored by Richard Branson's airline, Virgin Atlantic, and built by Burt Rutan's company,"
"Scaled Composites. The two companies subsequently went on to work together on Virgin Galactic. Between February 8, 2006 and February 11, 2006, Fossett flew the GlobalFlyer for the longest aircraft flight distance in history: . The GlobalFlyer was specifically designed to make an uninterrupted (non-refueled) circumnavigation of the globe with a single pilot. Unusual for a modern civil aircraft, the GlobalFlyer has only a single jet engine. Physically, the GlobalFlyer has twin tail booms mounted outboard of a shorter central fuselage nacelle. The pressurized cockpit is located in the front of the fuselage and provides 7 feet (2.1 m) of"
"h, 53 min, 30 s in February 1998, and an Aspen to Eagle record of 12 hr, 29 min in February 2001. Fossett was a lifelong mountain climber and had climbed the highest peaks on six of the seven continents. In the 1980s, he became friends with Patrick Morrow, who was attempting to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents for the ""Seven Summits"" world record, which Morrow achieved in 1985. Fossett accompanied Morrow for his last three peaks, including Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania, and Elbrus in Europe. While Fossett went on to climb almost"
"Internationale in 1996. He received the Harmon Trophy, given annually ""to the world's outstanding aviator and aeronaut"", in 1998 and 2002. He received the Grande Médaille of the Aéro-Club de France, and the British Royal Aero Club's Gold Medal in 2002. He received the Order of Magellan and the French Republic's Médaille de l'Aéronautique in 2003. The Scaled Composites White Knight Two VMS ""Spirit of Steve Fossett"", was named in Fossett's honor by his friend Richard Branson, in 2007. Following his disappearance, Peggy Fossett and Dick Rutan accepted the Spread Wings Award on Fossett's behalf at the 2007 Spreading Wings"
"2, 2005, Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic which was made by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in June 1919 in a Vickers Vimy biplane. Their flight from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland in the open cockpit Vickers Vimy replica took 18 hours 25 minutes with 13 hours flown in instrument flight conditions. Because there was no airport in Clifden, Fossett and Rebholz landed on the 8th fairway of the Connemara Golf Links. The team of Steve Fossett and Terry Delore (NZ) set ten"
"trip around the world, it's the biggest trip in the history of human beings."" In 1985, Scotto quit his job as a Buenos Aires sales representative for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to see the world on his five-year-old 1100 cc Honda Goldwing Interstate. Scotto, who had never traveled outside of Argentina before, left with only $300 and no contacts for the many stops on his journey. By the end of his journey in 1995, Scotto went through 13 64-page passports and his motorcycle received one replacement engine, consumed of gasoline, of oil, 86 tires, 12 batteries and nine new seats."
"succeeding with this record flight. This endeavor is known as the Perlan Project. As a young adventurer, Fossett was one of the first participants in the Worldloppet, a series of cross country ski marathons around the world. While he had little experience as a skier, he was in the first group of 'citizen athletes' to participate in the series debut in 1979. And in 1980, he became the eighth skier to complete all 10 of the long distance races, earning a Worldloppet medallion. He has also set cross-country skiing records in Colorado, setting an Aspen to Vail record of 59"
"hours and 55 minutes. Then on 21 March of that year, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first to circumnavigate the Earth, in a Rozière known as the ""Breitling Orbiter 3"", in a flight lasting 477 hours, 47 minutes. On 4 July 2002, after five previous attempts, Steve Fossett became the first to achieve a round the world solo flight also in a Rozière named the ""Spirit of Freedom"". On 23 July 2016, Fyodor Konyukhov completed a round-the-world solo flight in a Rozière in just over 11 days, setting a new world record. Rozière balloon A Rozière balloon (or"
"at an average speed of to smash the transcontinental record for non-supersonic jets. He returned to San Diego, then flew the same course as co-pilot for fellow adventurer Joe Ritchie in Ritchie's turboprop Piaggio Avanti. Their time was 3 hours, 51 minutes, 52 seconds, an average speed of , which broke the previous turboprop transcontinental record held by Chuck Yeager and Renald Davenport. Fossett also set the east-to-west transcontinental record for non-supersonic fixed-wing aircraft on September 17, 2000. He flew from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California in 3 hours, 29 minutes, at an average speed of . On July"
"2007. Rutan retired in April 2011. Before forming Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan had designed several aircraft for amateur builders, including the VariEze, often considered one of general aviation's most innovative designs. He also designed the Beechcraft Starship, which was, however, a commercial failure. These aircraft were distinctive because of their canard configuration, winglets and pusher propellers. Before SpaceShipOne, Rutan was best known for his Voyager aircraft, which his brother, Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager flew around the world without refueling in 1986. In 2005, the single-jet Global Flyer was flown by billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett on the first solo non-stop,"
"point, and smaller insects to go above the wing. Post-flight examination found only 3 insect carcasses splattered on the Voyager's wings. Roncz's computations were used extensively in the Beech Starship, Scaled Composites Triumph, intended for Beechcraft as the first light jet powered by the Williams FJ-44 engine, and many other Rutan designs. However, Beechcraft's deteriorating financial situation in the 1990s doomed the concept, and only the first Triumph prototype was built. He joined lead engineer Jon Karkow on the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer program, doing the wing aerodynamic design and predicting performance. Steve Fossett flew solo around the world in 2005"
"on his fourth try. Complete Summary of Sailing Records 13 Outright World Records: 2 Singlehanded World Records: 9 Race Records: Singlehanded Race Record: World Records set but later beaten: At the time of his death a submarine, DeepFlight Challenger, was under construction to enable Fossett to be the first solo submariner to reach the Challenger Deep. Fossett set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships on October 27, 2004. The new record for fastest flight was accomplished with a Zeppelin NT, at a recorded average speed of . The previous record was set in 2001 in a Virgin airship. In"
"sports, sixty of which still stood at the time of his death. In 2002 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club of the UK. Fossett disappeared on September 3, 2007 while flying a light aircraft over the Great Basin Desert, between Nevada and California. Extensive searches proved unsuccessful, and he was declared legally dead in February of the following year. In September 2008, a hiker found Fossett's identification cards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, leading shortly after to the discovery of the plane's wreckage. Fossett's only known remains, two large bones, were found half a"
"then ranked 4WA for 18 Men's) have subsequently completed cross country rides from Adelaide to Perth demonstrating the interest in cycling in Northam. Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone, non-stop, in a hot air balloon when he launched from Northam on 19 June 2002, and returned to Australia on 3 July, landing in Queensland. Between 1952 and 1956 several motor racing events were held using streets within the town. The first circuit used was on the south side of the Avon River, but this was considered too dangerous, so a new circuit was built"
"of South Dakota and ended outside Hampton, New Brunswick later. The second attempt, launched from Busch Stadium, cost $300,000 and lasted before being downed halfway in a tree in India; the trip set records at the time for duration and distance of flight (with Fossett doubling his own previous record) and was called ""Solo Spirit"" after Lindbergh's ""Spirit of St. Louis"". Fossett slept an average of two hours a night for the six-day journey, conducted in below-zero temperatures. After taking too much fuel to cross the Atlantic Ocean and circling Libya for 12 hours while officials decided whether or not"
"depths of the worlds oceans. Both the catamaran and the submersible were formerly owned by Steve Fossett, who had modified the racing catamaran to become the mothership for his planned oceanic dive record attempt. After Steve Fossett's death the project went on hold until Chris Welsh purchased the equipment from Fossett's estate and restarted the endeavor. The attempt on Challenger Deep was first announced in April 2011. This deep sea submersible, currently in the construction and testing phase, seats one person. The company has stated that it will be able to dive to the deepest part of the ocean, which"
"and without any external help or assistance. He covered the distance of more than 17,408 km (9400 nautical miles) on the Turgoyak (K9) rowboat in just 162 days. On 23 July 2016, Konyukhov became the second person to circumnavigate the world in a hybrid hot-air helium balloon. American Steve Fossett is the only other person to have completed the feat, having done so in 2002 on his sixth attempt. Konyukhov took ""just over 11 days"", as opposed to Fossett's 13 days. Konyukhov announced his intention to challenge Fossett's record in September 2015, although the idea had ""first captured [his] imagination"
"25,766 statute miles (41,467 km) and the duration was 76 hours 45 minutes. The next month, Fossett made a third flight around the world in order to break the absolute record for ""Distance over a closed circuit without landing"" (with takeoff and landing at the same airport). He took off from Salina, Kansas on March 14, 2006 and returned on March 17, 2006 after flying 25,262 statute miles (40,655 km). There are only seven absolute world records for fixed-wing aircraft recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and Fossett broke three of them in the Virgin Atlantic ""GlobalFlyer"". All three records"
"VMS ""Eve"" and VMS ""Spirit of Steve Fossett"" The LauncherOne system will use a Boeing 747-400 as the mothership. The B747 ""Cosmic Girl"" has been acquired for the duties. Richard Branson unveiled the rocket plane on December 7, 2009, announcing that, after testing, the plane would carry fare-paying passengers ticketed for short duration journeys just above the atmosphere. Virgin Group would initially launch from a base in New Mexico before extending operations around the globe. Built from lightweight carbon-composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, SS2 is based on the Ansari X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne concept – a rocket"
"The original funding for the Perlan Project was provided by Steve Fossett and he flew the Perlan 1, along with test pilot Einar Enevoldson to a glider altitude record of in the mountain waves of El Calafate, Argentina on 30 August 2006. Fossett was killed in a light aircraft crash a year later and the project floundered without funding. Since then more than US$2.8M has been raised to build the Perlan 2, including a donation from Dennis Tito. In November 2013, a crowd-funding effort was undertaken. In August 2014 Airbus became a partner in the project. The Perlan 2 first"
"Atlantic GlobalFlyer, had a carbon fiber reinforced plastic airframe with a single Williams FJ44 turbofan engine. It was designed and built by Burt Rutan and his company, Scaled Composites, for long-distance solo flight. The fuel fraction, the weight of the fuel divided by the weight of the aircraft at take-off, was 83 percent. On February 11, 2006, Fossett set the absolute world record for ""distance without landing"" by flying from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, around the world eastbound, then upon returning to Florida continuing across the Atlantic a second time to land in Bournemouth, England. The official distance was"
"Feliu and Green. Four Cameron-R77s made Atlantic crossings, west to east, during September 1992. One was co-piloted by Bertrand Piccard. Australian adventurer Richard Smith and his co-pilot John Wallington made the first balloon voyage across Australia, in another Cameron-R77 Rozière, ""Australian Geographic Flyer"", on 18 June 1993. Steve Fossett made the first successful Pacific crossing during February 1995. On 27 February 1999, while they were trying to circumnavigate the world by balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after flying in a Rozière combined helium and hot air balloon (the ""Cable & Wireless"" balloon) for 233"
"to allow him into their airspace, Fossett did not have enough fuel to finish the flight. That year, Fossett flew farther for less money than better-financed expeditions (including one supported by Richard Branson) in part due to his ability to fly in an unpressurized capsule, a result of his heavy physical training at high altitudes. The ""Solo Spirit"" capsule was put on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum across from the ""Apollo 11"" command module. Fossett grew up in Garden Grove, California and earned the Eagle Scout award in 1957. He credited his experience in Scouting as"
"sea and land adventurer, Steve Fossett. On Labor Day, 2007, Fossett took off from the Flying M Ranch and never returned, perishing in a crash in the Sierras. In spite of an intensive search, the wreckage wasn't discovered until the following spring. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be ""the pilot's inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high density altitude, and mountainous terrain."" Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any malfunctions or failures that would have"