Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
Encyclopedia
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
) is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft...
in which Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in a time of 67 hours 1 minute from February 28, 2005 until March 3, 2005. The flight speed of 590.7 km/h (342.2 mph) broke the Absolute World Record for the fastest nonstop unrefueled circumnavigation set by the previous Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft at 9 days 3 minutes and an average speed of 186.11 km/h (115.65 mph).
The aircraft was owned by the pilot Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
, sponsored by Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
, Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is a British airline owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines...
, and built by Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...
. The companies had previously announced a combined effort for Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
.
Between February 8, 2006 – February 11, 2006, Fossett flew the GlobalFlyer for the longest aircraft flight distance in history: 25,766 miles (41,467 km).
Construction
The GlobalFlyer is the first jet aircraft designed for an uninterrupted circumnavigation of the globe. Unusual for modern aircraft, the GlobalFlyer has just a single jet engine.Physically, the GlobalFlyer aircraft somewhat resembles an enlarged, slender WWII airplane, the P-38, with twin tail booms mounted outboard of a smaller, central nacelle
Nacelle
The nacelle is a cover housing that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. In some cases—for instance in the typical "Farman" type "pusher" aircraft, or the World War II-era P-38 Lightning—an aircraft's cockpit may also be housed in a nacelle, which essentially fills the...
. The pressurized cockpit is mounted on the leading edge of the center pod and provides seven feet of space in which the pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
sits. Unlike the P-38, or similar twin-tail designs, the solitary turbofan
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
engine is mounted atop the manned central fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
, several feet behind the cockpit. The outboard tail booms instead contain fuel, and end in control surfaces which are not cross-connected.
The aircraft is constructed of carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
reinforced epoxy, the main structural member being a slender single spar 114 foot (35 m) wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
. The wings are made of sturdy composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s with the skin of the aircraft being a graphite/epoxy and Aramid
Aramid
Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide"...
honeycomb
Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey...
. The use of lightweight materials permits the fuel (in thirteen tanks) to comprise 83% of the take-off weight.
The aircraft had an estimated lift to drag ratio (L/D) of 37. The aerodynamic drag is so low that, even with the engine idling, the aircraft can only descend at a maximum of 700 ft/min. Drogue parachute
Drogue parachute
A drogue parachute is a parachute designed to be deployed from a rapidly moving object in order to slow the object, or to provide control and stability, or as a pilot parachute to deploy a larger parachute...
s were used to slow the GlobalFlyer to landing speeds.
The Voyager aircraft suffered from design flaws that made it warp in shape very easily, so the GlobalFlyer is designed to have greater stiffness
Stiffness
Stiffness is the resistance of an elastic body to deformation by an applied force along a given degree of freedom when a set of loading points and boundary conditions are prescribed on the elastic body.-Calculations:...
. A single jet engine design was chosen for the GlobalFlyer for increased reliability over propeller engines and faster circumnavigation for the solo pilot.
The GlobalFlyer is designed to operate at high altitudes where the air is colder, yet fuel heaters were not included in its design. There was some concern that the fuel might freeze if the aircraft was to use standard jet fuel. Therefore, the GlobalFlyer's Williams International
Williams International
Williams International is a manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Walled Lake, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet-powered aircraft.- History :...
FJ44-3 ATW turbofan (which normally takes Jet-A
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
fuel), was re-calibrated to burn a fuel with a substantially lower freezing point: JP-4 fuel
JP-4
JP-4, or JP4 was a jet fuel, specified in 1951 by the U.S. government . It was a 50-50 kerosene-gasoline blend. It has lower flash point than JP-1, but was preferred because of its greater availability. It was the primary U.S. Air Force jet fuel between 1951 and 1995. Its NATO code is F-40...
.
First solo nonstop circumnavigation
Following solo test flights at Mojave, California by Chief Engineer Jon Karkow and pilot Steve FossettSteve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
, Fossett moved the GlobalFlyer to Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
in January, 2005 where a recently resurfaced runway of 12,300 feet (3750 m) would accommodate the anticipated long takeoff roll. The round the world 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 the adjacent Salina campus of Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
A tailwind was essential to making the 36,787.559 km that it needed to fly to meet the FAI
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
’s definition of circumnavigation, the length of the Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith...
. 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 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) of fuel early in the flight. This forced Steve Fossett and Mission Control to decide whether to abort the flight as it reached the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
near Japan. Steve 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.
Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer landed at Salina at 19:50 UTC (13:50 CST) on 3 March 2005, having completed its circumnavigation in 2 days, 19 hours, 1 minute and 46 seconds. The distance flown was determined to be 36,912 km, only 125 km above the minimum distance required.
Longest distance aircraft flight
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
planned a second circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer, this time taking off from the Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, flying eastbound around the world then crossing the Atlantic a second time and then landing at Kent International Airport
Kent International Airport
Manston - Kent's International Airport is an airport located at Manston in the District of Thanet within Kent, England, northeast of Canterbury. It was formerly called RAF Manston , and was also known as London Manston Airport...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
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 the Round the World Balloon flight
Breitling Orbiter
Breitling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozière balloons made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe, named after the sponsor Breitling...
of Bertrand Piccard
Bertrand Piccard
Bertrand Piccard is a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist.Born in Lausanne, Vaud canton, Bertrand Piccard, along with Brian Jones, was the first to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe...
and Brian Jones
Brian Jones (aeronaut)
Brian Jones is an English balloonist.Brian Jones, along with Bertrand Piccard, co-piloted the first successful uninterrupted circumnavigation of the world on board the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3...
in 1999.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2006, at 12:22 UTC, GlobalFlyer took off and flew eastbound from Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
, and landed after a flight duration of 76 hours, 45 minutes with an official distance of 25,766 miles (41,467 km).
This distance set a new record for the longest ever aircraft flight in history, breaking the old records of 24,987 miles (40,212 km) in an airplane and 25,360 miles (40,814 km) in a balloon. The landing was made at Bournemouth Airport
Bournemouth Airport
Bournemouth Airport is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Fossett having declared an emergency and diverting because of a generator failure at 40000 feet (12,192 m). Generator failure meant that he had about 25 minutes until his batteries were exhausted, when he would have lost all electrical power. To add to the drama, there was ice on the inside of the canopy obstructing Fossett's view, making his landing 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 (90.7 kg).
Aside from that there was some relatively minor damage such as a broken aileron hinge and a jammed intake valve, but otherwise the aircraft survived intact.
Closed circuit distance flight and retirement
Dick Rutan
Richard Glenn "Dick" Rutan is an aviator who piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop with co-pilot Jeana Yeager...
and Jeana Yeager
Jeana Yeager
Jeana Yeager is an aviator. She is most famous for co-piloting a non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world in the Rutan Voyager aircraft from 14 to 23 December 1986. The flight took 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds and covered 24,986 miles , more than doubling the old distance record set by...
had already flown the Voyager around the world in 1986, so a longer closed circuit course was needed to break their record. Fossett started in Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
on March 14, 2006 and flew eastbound around the world. Upon leaving Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
he flew south and then tracked along the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
in order to maximize the distance while crossing the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. He landed in Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
on March 17, 2006 after traversing a total of 25,294 miles (40,707 km) to set a new Absolute Distance Over a Closed Circuit Record.
With this final record flight before retirement, the GlobalFlyer had set three of the seven absolute world records of airplanes as ratified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
. The GlobalFlyer is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States....
.
Specifications
External links
- Scaled Composites home page
- SC Global Flyer page
- GlobalFlyer Live Flight Tracking
- "Fossett launches record attempt", BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
– March 1, 2005 - "Steve Fossett and Burt Rutan's Ultimate Solo: Behind the Scenes" (from Popular Mechanics)