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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.))))

(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...

Breaking on CNN

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...

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....

Fossett lifts off in bid to break record MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After a white-knuckle takeoff, millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett soared out over the Atlantic in a bony-looking experimental airplane Wednesday on a quest to break the 25,000-mile record for the world's longest aircraft flight. Fossett squeezed into the tiny cockpit, kissed his wife goodbye and set out on the planned, 3 1/2-day nonstop journey, taking off from the Kennedy Space Center on a nearly three-mile runway that is normally used by space shuttles when they return to Earth. His plane, the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer,...

A strange, sleek bird will take to the skies this month in an attempt to fly further than any aircraft before it. The plane, called the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, last soared into the record books in March 2005, when aviator Steve Fossett successfully piloted it on the first solo, non-stop flight around the world. For Fossett and his team, though, the world is not enough. They plan to go one better: to take off from the United States, circle the globe eastwards and then cross the Atlantic a second time. They are awaiting a good window of weather, which could...

(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.

SALINA, Kan. - First by balloon, now by plane, Steve Fossett is once again a 'round-the-world record holder. The millionaire adventurer on Thursday became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling, touching down in central Kansas after a 67-hour, 23,000-mile journey that appeared endangered at times by a troubled fuel system. Fossett, who failed five times before successfully circumnavigating the globe solo in a balloon, needed just one try to make the trip in a plane. He holds many other records as a balloonist, pilot and sailor. Fossett's GlobalFlyer, designed by the same engineer...

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett took off Monday night on his attempt to become the first person to complete a solo trip around the world in an airplane without making a single stop. Fossett, the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon, launched his GlobalFlyer from the Salina Municipal Airport shortly before 7 p.m., beginning a 66-hour journey by climbing northeast into a darkening sky. Hundreds of spectators, braving a bitterly cold wind, gathered along the two-mile runway to watch the takeoff. Fossett hoped to return to Salina on Thursday morning. The 23,000-mile flight had already been postponed...

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...

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...

New Zealand's Dunedin Airport has been confirmed as a night landing site for Steve Fossett's attempt on the world gliding record.The American adventurer has been in New Zealand for a week waiting for favourable weather.Spokesman Bill Walker said his team had been making extra preparations for the day when the attempt would be made."We have been to Dunedin Airport to see if we can land there at night if necessary and it's all set up. Unfortunately the weather's not looking good until the end of the week and even then, it's marginal."The hi-tech gliding team is waiting for strong winds...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Part of a giant balloon used by U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett in his record-breaking flight was back in the air on Wednesday after Australian souvenir hunters got more than they bargained for. Fossett landed his 140-foot-tall (42-meter) "Spirit of Freedom" balloon on a Queensland cattle station on July 4, after becoming the first person to circle the globe solo, and left the canopy for souvenir hunters. Ranchers tried to tow the helium-filled inner bladder of the balloon away using a four-wheel drive, but it broke off and rose into the sky, manager of the Durham Downs station,...

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