Free Republic

With the search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett revealing missing planes dating back to the World War Two, it has stirred hopes for one family that they might actually find out what happened to their missing aviator father. For 43 years, Dr. William Olge, has questioned what happend to his father. Charles Olge, an experienced pilot who trained as an aviator in the U.S Marine's, took off from Oakland, bound for Reno in the summer of 1964, in his Cessna 210. He was never heard from again. The massive hunt for Fossett now may help resolve the enduring mystery surrounding...

For a moment on Sunday, rescuers in Nevada searching for the aviator Steve Fossett thought they might have found what they were looking for. Reporters were summoned to Minden-Tahoe airport and a helicopter was scrambled to check out a possible sighting of the wreckage of a single-engine aircraft. But 30 minutes later the helicopter crew reported back that the wreck was not Mr Fossett's plane but the debris from an old US navy crash. "Once again you had your hopes raised and dashed just as we have," civil air patrol major Cynthia Ryan told reporters. "This search is big, it...

RENO, Nev. - Rescue crews were headed to another potential sighting of Steve Fossett's plane Sunday afternoon near where the famous aviator took off on Labor Day. The sighting occurred within a 50-mile radius of the airstrip about 80 miles southeast of Reno, said Kim Toulouse, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife assisting in the search operation. "We have aircraft and ground forces en route to that location," Toulouse told reporters, refusing to take any questions. At least six times during the past week search and rescue crews have spotted airplane wreckage they thought might be Fossett's only...

MINDEN, Nev. -- Throughout the search for record-setting aviator Steve Fossett, the operation's leaders have professed unwavering confidence and asked for patience. But as the search enters its sixth full day Sunday, concern is growing as the unprecedented effort drags on with no clue about Fossett's possible location. His disappearance has prompted a massive aerial search that at times has sent as many as 45 aircraft into the skies over northwestern Nevada. "There's been nothing, absolutely nothing," said John Kugler, a longtime friend who taught Fossett ballooning. "Nobody knows anything. It's a mystery." The 63-year-old adventurer has been missing since...

An anonymous reader invites us to join in the hunt for the missing Steve Fossett using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. DigitalGlobe, one of Google's imaging partners, has acquired new high-resolution satellite imagery of the area where Fossett disappeared on Monday. The public can now go through this imagery and quickly flag any images that might contain Fossett's plane. Flagged images will receive further review by search and rescue experts.

((((MINDEN, Nev., Sept. 7 — To the locals, it is known as “that ranch.” Most have never set foot on it, kept out by warning signs and careful surveillance.... The Flying-M Ranch is a million-acre spread owned by the hotel magnate William Barron Hilton about 90 miles southeast of Reno. Mr. Hilton, whose granddaughters Paris and Nicky are now more famous than he, is a 79-year-old outdoors enthusiast with a penchant for playing host to his many celebrity friends.))))

MINDEN, Nev. (AP) — In their quest to find missing aviator Steve Fossett, searchers have come across uncharted plane crashes six times. But none of the wrecks shed light on what may have happened to the multimillionaire. Hopes that a wrecked plane spotted on the side of a hill might be Fossett's were dashed quickly Friday when ground crews learned the plane last was registered more than three decades ago. As the search for Fossett stretched into its fifth full day Saturday, weary rescuers were no closer to understanding where he was flying or where his small plane might have...

(RENO, Nev.) - Media sources are reporting the disappearance of a small plane carrying Steve Fossett, the first pilot to fly around the world solo without refueling. Fossett is best known for his five world record non-stop solo circumnavigations of the Earth. He is also a long-distance solo balloonist, and sailor. Chuck Allen with the Nevada Highway Patrol, told Salem-News.com that there is no sign of Fossett yet. "Yesterday he left at 9:00 AM hoping to complete ground recon on a project he is working on and he never came back." Fossett reportedly left a private airstrip on a ranch...

DAYTON, Ohio - A record-setting daredevil and the first American woman in space are among five people slated for induction Saturday to the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Steve Fossett, 63, of Beaver Creek, Colo., holds world records in ballooning and with powered aircraft. In 2002, he became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon. Three years later, he became the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without refueling. He and a co-pilot also claim to have set a world glider altitude record of 50,671 feet during a flight in August...

SALINA, Kan. — Adventurer Steve Fossett said Friday that he had broken the record for flying farther than anyone departing and landing at the same spot, traveling more than 25,000 miles in three days. Fossett landed his lightweight experimental aircraft at Salina Municipal Airport a few hours ahead of schedule, at 9:06 a.m. CST, more than 74 hours after he took off from the same place. Certification of the record could take two weeks to a year. Fossett said he flew about 25,300 miles in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. The previous closed-circuit record of nearly 25,000 miles was set in...

BY DEREK KRAVITZ, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago MANSTON, England - Adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history Saturday, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours, but he had to land early because of mechanical problems. Ground control said Fossett, 61, broke the airplane distance record of 24,987 miles while his lightweight experimental plane was flying over Shannon, Ireland. He then was forced to land the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer at Bournemouth International Airport, in southern England, instead of at a military air strip in nearby Kent because of generator problems. The millionaire adventurer completed...

According to the tracking page at the Global Flyer webpage (link above), Steve Fossett has made it across the Atlantic, and is currently over southwestern Ireland. He will be landing at Kent International Airport in England in 2-3 hours.

Adventurer Steve Fossett on Friday altered his route over the Atlantic Ocean to make up for lost fuel and weak winds in his quest to break aviation's distance record. Fossett originally planned to fly his lightweight experimental plane on a northeasterly path across the Atlantic that would allow Newfoundland to serve as an emergency landing site. But the adjusted path has Fossett crossing Florida, where he began his nonstop trip early Wednesday, and taking a more southerly path on the flight's last leg to take advantage of better winds. He planned to land Saturday in Kent, England. "The guys at...

(CNN) -- Pilot Steve Fossett has become the first person to fly solo nonstop round-the-world. His plane, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, touched down Thursday afternoon in Salina, Kansas, more than 66 hours after he lifted off from the same spot.

Fossett nears Pakistan in world flight US adventurer Steve Fossett was approaching the coast of Pakistan late on Tuesday after overcoming a navigation equipment problem that threatened to derail his historic bid to make the first non-stop flight around the world without refuelling. Fossett, who took off from here in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer on Monday for a flight expected to last between 60 and 80 hours, said he had to deal with a number of "dramas" during takeoff but the flight was going well overall. At 03:30 GMT, Fossett was at 14 700m and had been in the air...

SALINA, Kan. - Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett was the first person to circle the globe solo in a hot-air balloon. Now, he wants to make the trip in a single-engine airplane without stopping — another aviation first. Fossett, 60, hoped to take off in his GlobalFlyer on Monday afternoon at Salina Municipal Airport and land there again about 66 hours later. The 23,000-mile flight had already been postponed several times because of shifting jet stream patterns or weather at Salina. "I'm a bit nervous about takeoff," said Fossett, who has logged about 30 hours in the jet-powered aircraft. "I will...

The final preparations are being made today for a record-breaking attempt to fly solo non-stop around the world in less than 80 hours. Adventurer Steve Fossett is hoping to become the first person to achieve this feat, dubbed the last great aviation challenge on earth by the project’s sponsor Sir Richard Branson. The 54-year-old Virgin boss has poured more than £1 million into Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer – a futuristic single engined jet which will carry more than four times its own weight in fuel. The attempt has been repeatedly delayed by poor weather but a clear forecast over the next...

Amid torrential rain and under dark skies, American adventurer Steve Fossett and his crew have set sail from Plymouth in their bid to smash the round-the-world sailing record. The billionaire American skipper and his 11-strong crew have been in Plymouth Yacht Haven since December preparing equipment for their attempt to beat the Jules Verne record in the 125ft monster catamaran Cheyenne. Since planning started, two crew members have dropped out and another two have joined, due to the long delays inevitable in such endeavours, as crews must wait until weather conditions are just right. But according to navigators on the...

AMERICAN adventurer and businessman Steve Fossett took off today on his latest bid to set the world glider altitude record, in a flight over the snowcapped mountains of southern New Zealand. Fossett and former NASA test pilot Einar Enevoldson set off in the afternoon into mountain wave wind conditions they hope will lift their glider to heights above the current record of 14,935 metres. If successful, the flight to the north of New Zealand's highest peak, the 3,754-metre Mount Cook, was expected to take about five hours. The wind was expected to continue improving until midnight. "There's the potential...

A LOOSE burner hose started a fire on millionaire Steve Fossett's Spirit of Freedom helium balloon early today as he hovered above south-western Queensland waiting for an opportunity to land. "Just 20 minutes ago a burner hose fitting came loose and a fire immediately started," Fossett emailed to mission control staff in the United States at about 3am (AEST). "A high-pressure propane fire on board is one of my greatest fears." In the email, Fossett said he was "fortunately" awake at the time of the fire. "I instantly dove for the tank shut-off valves," he reported to staff. "The...