- Exhausted and struggling to stay awake after 67 hours
in his cockpit, the American adventurer Steve Fossett touched down in Kansas
yesterday to become the first person to fly solo non-stop around the world.
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- Fossett, 60, landed at Salina airport less than three
days after taking off from the same airstrip in his fuel-laden experimental
plane, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.
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- Thousands of people lined the runway under bright blue
skies and cheered as Fossett returned after a flight which lasted 67 hours,
two minutes and 13 seconds, according to the official time released by
his mission control.
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- Emerging from his cramped cockpit, Fossett was hugged
by his sponsor, Sir Richard Branson, on the tarmac.
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- He said he felt like "a really lucky guy''.
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- "I got to achieve my ambition," Fossett added.
"It was a major ambition."
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- Asked how he felt, the millionaire aviator said: "Better
than I have in the last couple days. I'm energised by the reception. Right
now I'm not sleepy.
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- "What a day. It's something I wanted to do for a
long time. I was in control and able to make decisions. I didn't make any
major errors."
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- He added: "Somehow, I think I'll sleep tonight."
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- The 23,000-mile journey was not without its moments of
drama. The attempt was seemingly in peril on Wednesday when organisers
announced that the jet ñ which had not been tested with full tanks
before it took off from Kansas on Monday ñ had "lost"
2,600lbs of fuel shortly after take-off and might have to land in Hawaii.
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- However, Mr Fossett decided to keep going and, if necessary,
glide for the last stretch of the journey.
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- His mission control has failed to explain the fuel discrepancy.
It is unclear whether the plane was filled incorrectly before taking off,
or if it burnt off too much fuel in the early stages of the flight.
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- Organisers said strong tail winds had allowed Fossett
to conserve fuel.
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- The flight has been part-sponsored by Sir Richard, who
followed the jet in a chase plane for the final leg of its journey.
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- Fossett, a former stock market trader, was only able
to sleep for only three minutes at a time throughout the trip and had to
survive on water and milk shakes. The main problem was keeping him hydrated,
said organisers.
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- The pilot said he had begun to feel very tired and was
suffering from headaches but had "really perked up" when he realised
how close he was to finishing.
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- Fossett already holds the record for flying solo around
the globe in a balloon, as well as dozens of other aviation and sailing
feats, but the three-day journey tested his endurance and piloting abilities
to the limit.
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- The first solo flight around the world was made in 1933
by Wiley Post who took more than seven days with numerous stops along the
route.
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- In-flight refuelling then made it possible for military
planes such as B-52 bombers to go around the world without stopping.
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- In 1986, the Americans Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan became
the first people to fly a propeller-driven plane on a non-stop flight round
the world without refuelling.
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- Dick Rutan is the brother of Burt Rutan, designer of
the Voyager plane that made that flight as well as the GlobalFlyer that
saw Fossett claims his place in the record books.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
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- http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;0315
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