Steve Fossett breaks record for longest nonstop flight, lands safely
{{date|February 11, 2006}}
{{missing image|Image:Steve_Fossett_04.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Picture of Steve Fossett.}}
[[w:Steve Fossett|Steve Fossett]], 61, has broken the record for flying the longest nonstop flight in aviation history and has landed safely in England although, Steve Ridgeway chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, the company sponsoring Fossett's record bid said, "he burst two tires on landing and the poor [[w:Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer|GlobalFlyer]] had to be dragged off the runway."

Fossett had to land at [[w:Bournemouth Airport|Bournemouth Airport]] in Dorset instead of his planned destination of [[w:Kent International Airport|Manston Airport]] in Kent, because of generator problems.

After the flight, Fossett told the press, "I was really lucky to make it here today, there was a lot going on. The tension of the final part really took it out of me, but I will be fine in the morning." 

Fossett broke the previous record of 25,361 miles (40,210 km) (set by [[w:Dick Rutan|Dick Rutan]] flying the lightweight [[w:Scaled Composites Voyager|Voyager]] aircraft in 1986) when he passed over Shannon Ireland, even though he lost 750 pounds of fuel just after take-off from [[w:Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy Space Center]] Wednesday. His record has been recorded to have been broken at; 11:59am on February 11, 2006, (EST). His trip has taken about 80 hours (3 1/2 days) and covered 26,389.3 miles (42,469 km).

The plane Fossett was flying is a lightweight experimental aircraft. The GlobalFlyer is the only plane to make a non-stop circumnavigation of the earth on one tank of fuel.

Fossett has broken 110 world records.

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20060211-1404-fossettflight.html|title=Pilot Steve Fossett lands in England, breaking world flight distance record|author=|pub=The San Diego Union Tribune|date=February 11, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nbc4.tv/news/6931814/detail.html|title=Fossett Lands Safely In England|author=|pub=KNBC|date=February 11, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=18278|title=Adventurer Steve Fossett breaks world flight distance record|author=|pub=The Brandon Sun|date=February 11, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_sc/fossett_flight|title=Fossett Breaks Flight Distance Record|author=|pub=Associated Press|date=February 11, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=24&id=21133|title=Adventurer Steve Fossett breaks world flight distance record|author=|pub=AM 940 Montreal|date=February 11, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/11/national/a033613S21.DTL|title=Fossett Decides to Continue Aviation Quest|author=|pub=The San Francisco Chronicle|date=February 11, 2006}}

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[[category:World]]
[[category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[category:United Kingdom]]
[[category:England]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Europe]]

[[de:Steve Fossetts Rekordversuch gelungen]]
[[es:Steve Fosset bate el récord de distancia de vuelo sin escalas]]
Steve Fossett, 61, has broken the record for flying the longest nonstop flight in aviation history and has landed safely in England although, Steve Ridgeway chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, the company sponsoring Fossett's record bid said, "he burst two tires on landing and the poor GlobalFlyer had to be dragged off the runway."

Fossett had to land at Bournemouth Airport in Dorset instead of his planned destination of Manston Airport in Kent, because of generator problems.

After the flight, Fossett told the press, "I was really lucky to make it here today, there was a lot going on. The tension of the final part really took it out of me, but I will be fine in the morning." 

Fossett broke the previous record of 25,361 miles (40,210 km) (set by Dick Rutan flying the lightweight Voyager aircraft in 1986) when he passed over Shannon Ireland, even though he lost 750 pounds of fuel just after take-off from Kennedy Space Center Wednesday. His record has been recorded to have been broken at; 11:59am on February 11, 2006, (EST). His trip has taken about 80 hours (3 1/2 days) and covered 26,389.3 miles (42,469 km).

The plane Fossett was flying is a lightweight experimental aircraft. The GlobalFlyer is the only plane to make a non-stop circumnavigation of the earth on one tank of fuel.

Fossett has broken 110 world records.


category:World
category:Science and technology

category:United Kingdom
category:England
United States North America Europe