| Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer | |
|---|---|
 GlobalFlyer arriving at theKennedy Space Center | |
| General information | |
| Type | Long-range aircraft for record attempt |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Designer | |
| Status | retired |
| Primary user | Steve Fossett |
| Number built | 1 |
| Registration | N277SF |
| History | |
| First flight | 2005 |
| Retired | March 17, 2006 |
| Preserved at | National Air and Space MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center[1] |
TheScaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer (registered N277SF) is an aircraft designed byBurt Rutan in whichSteve Fossett first flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in slightly more than 67 hours (2 days 19 hours) in 2005. The flight speed of 342 miles per hour (550 km/h) set the world record for the fastest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation, beating the mark set by the previous Rutan-designedVoyager aircraft at 9 days 3 minutes with an average speed of 116 miles per hour (187 km/h).
The aircraft was owned by the pilotSteve Fossett, sponsored byRichard Branson'sVirgin Atlantic airline, and built by Burt Rutan's company,Scaled Composites. The two companies subsequently worked together onVirgin Galactic.
In February 2006, Fossett flew the GlobalFlyer for the longest aircraft flight distance in history: 25,766 miles (41,466 km).
The GlobalFlyer was specifically designed to make an uninterrupted (non-refueled) circumnavigation of the globe with a single pilot. Unusual for a modern civil aircraft, the GlobalFlyer has only a single jet engine.
The GlobalFlyer has twin tail booms mounted outboard of a shorter central fuselagenacelle. The pressurizedcockpit is located in the front of the fuselage and provides 7 feet (2.1 m) of space in which thepilot sits. The singleturbofan engine is mounted in an unusual position above the fuselage at a point severalfeet behind thecockpit, a similar arrangement to that on theHeinkel He 162 andCirrus Vision SF50. The outboard booms contain large fuel tanks and end in tail surfaces, which are not cross-connected.
The aircraft is constructed ofcarbon fiber reinforced plastic, the main structural member being a high-aspect-ratio single-sparwing of 114-foot (35 m) span. The wings are made of high-strengthcomposite materials with the skin of the aircraft being a graphite/epoxy andAramid honeycomb. The use of lightweight materials permits the fuel (in 13 tanks) to compose 83% of the take-off weight.
The aircraft had an estimatedlift-to-drag ratio of 37.[2] Theaerodynamic drag is so low that, even with the engine idling, the aircraft can only descend at a maximum of 700 feet per minute (3.6 m/s). Twindrogue parachutes were used to slow the GlobalFlyer to landing speeds.
The earlier Voyager aircraft structure had been by necessity built so lightly that it significantly deflected under aerodynamic loading. Learning from this experience, Rutan designed the GlobalFlyer to have greaterstiffness. A design using a single jet engine was chosen for the GlobalFlyer for increased reliability over piston engines and faster circumnavigation for the solo pilot.
The GlobalFlyer is designed to operate at high altitudes, where the air is colder, yet in-tank fuel heaters were not included in its design. There was some concern that the fuel might freeze if the aircraft used standard jet fuel. Therefore, the GlobalFlyer'sWilliams International FJ44-3 ATW turbofan (which normally takesJet-A fuel), was re-calibrated to burnJP-4, which has a substantially lower freezing point.
In January 2005, following solo test flights atMojave, California, by Chief Engineer Jon Karkow and pilotSteve Fossett, Fossett moved the GlobalFlyer to theSalina Municipal Airport inSalina, Kansas, where a recently resurfaced runway of 12,300 feet (3,700 m) would accommodate the anticipated long takeoff roll. The circumnavigation attempt was delayed until 28 February 2005 to obtain a weather forecast with low turbulence for the fragile GlobalFlyer and good tailwinds.
Mission Control was at theSalina campus of Kansas State University, located adjacent to the Salina Municipal Airport.
A tailwind was essential to making the 22,858.729 miles (36,787.559 km) that it needed to fly to meet theFAI’s definition of circumnavigation, the length of theTropic of Cancer. The GlobalFlyer was designed to complete the circumnavigation with minimal reserves of fuel. As it turned out, a design flaw in the fuel venting system resulted in the loss of about 2,600 lb (1,200 kg) of fuel early in the flight. This forced Fossett and Mission Control to consider terminating the flight as it reached thePacific Ocean near Japan. Fossett chose to delay the final decision until he reached Hawaii. By that time, favorable winds encouraged the mission team to attempt to complete the circumnavigation.
GlobalFlyer landed at Salina at 19:50UTC (13:50CST) on 3 March 2005, having completed its circumnavigation in 2 days, 19 hours, 1 minute and 46 seconds. As of 2019[update], this is the fastest world trip in its class at a speed of 342 miles per hour (550 km/h).[3] The distance flown was determined to be 22,936 miles (36,912 km), only 78 miles (125 km) above the minimum distance required.
Fossett planned a second circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer in 2006, this time taking off from theKennedy Space Center inFlorida, flying eastbound around the world then crossing the Atlantic a second time and then landing atManston Airport inKent, England.
The objective was to break the Absolute Distance Without Landing Record for airplanes and to exceed the longest distance by any kind of aircraft which was achieved by theRound the World Balloon flight ofBertrand Piccard andBrian Jones in 1999.
On 8 February 2006 at 12:22 UTC, GlobalFlyer took off and flew eastbound from Kennedy Space Center, and landed after 76 hours, 45 minutes with an official distance of 25,766 miles (41,466 km).[4][5]
This distance set a new record for the longest aircraft flight in history, breaking the old records of 24,987 miles (40,213 km) in an airplane and 25,360 miles (40,810 km) in a balloon. The landing was made atBournemouth Airport, England (short of the planned destination at Kent), because of a generator failure at 40,000 feet (12,000 m). Generator failure meant that Fossett had about 25 minutes until his batteries were exhausted, when he would have lost all electrical power. To add to the drama, ice on the inside of the canopy made vision difficult, with his landing being made virtually blind; one tire was flat from the takeoff roll and the remaining main tire burst on touchdown due to frozen brakes; and the fuel remaining was indicated to be only 200 lb (91 kg).
The aircraft survived the landing, with minor damage including a broken aileron hinge and a jammed intake valve.
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Fossett flew the GlobalFlyer to one more major aviation record: the absolute distance over a closed circuit. A closed-circuit record must take off and land at the same place, and the distance is measured over verifiable waypoints.Dick Rutan andJeana Yeager had already flown theVoyager around the world in 1986, so a longer closed circuit course was needed to break their record. Fossett started inSalina, Kansas, on March 14, 2006, and flew eastbound around the world. Upon leavingJapan, he flew south and then tracked along theEquator in order to maximize the distance while crossing thePacific Ocean. He landed in Salina on March 17 after traversing a total of 25,294 miles (40,707 km) to set a new absolute distance over a closed circuit record.[6]
With this final record, the GlobalFlyer had set three of the seven absolute world records of airplanes as ratified by theFédération Aéronautique Internationale. The GlobalFlyer is now on permanent display at theSmithsonian Institution National Air and Space MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.[1]
General characteristics
Performance
