Posted on 02/09/2006 8:42:22 AM PST by Ben Mugged
Steve Fossett's experimental airplane lost more than 4 percent of its fuel during takeoff, which could jeopardize his attempt to break the long distance flight record, his mission team said Thursday.
As of early Thursday, his glider-like plane still had 10,500 pounds of fuel left. Mission managers hadn't pinpointed the cause of the fuel leak but believed a build up of pressure in the fuel tanks may be partly responsible.
Fuel leaks plagued Fossett's successful venture last year to become the first person to fly solo, nonstop around the world without refueling, and also delayed his take off this week. He lost 750 pounds of fuel in the takeoff, his crew said.
"The fuel loss will diminish the total number of miles it is able to travel, and owing to the high temperatures at the start, Steve was not able to climb to altitude as fast as he needed to," mission control director Kevin Stass said in a statement released by Fossett's flight team.
Despite some hair-raising moments, Fossett soared out over the Atlantic from a Kennedy Space Center runway Wednesday on a quest to break the nearly 25,000-mile record for the world's longest aircraft flight.
The plane lifted off about 1,500 feet farther down the runway than it should have, and it hit two birds. The temperature in the cockpit soared to 130 degrees, causing instruments to temporarily stop working before it cooled off.
"Takeoff was a bit scary, to say the least," Fossett, 61, said hours later in a statement issued by his flight team. "I had to use most of the runway to get off the ground. This was particularly hairy, as I couldn't have aborted even if I had wanted to."
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Flying ping
I can't believe they didn't spec/design the instruments to withstand a higher temperature.
Paging Captain Obvious... Captain Obvious?
Ping
Thanks for the Ping...
I wish him well - FYI... he had fuel problems that delayed his start - and now he's off - with fuel problems.
Yikes.
Risk Mitigation....?
Or maybe a little window to open.
Even Burt Rutan isn't perfect. Oh well, good luck!
The takeoff was pretty dicey.
He wanted to liftoff at the 8000ft marker but instead it lifted off at 11,500ft. The SLF (Shuttle Landing Facility) runway is 15,000ft.
Also, should he have needed to abort the takeoff, the craft would have needed 7,000 ft to stop.
Wow, he's cruising right along.
From which website are you getting those position maps?
Thanks!
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