NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer (FAA: N277SF), also known as the Capricorn is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan which Steve Fossett flew in a non-stop solo trip around the world in 67 hours from 00:47 March 1, 2005 UTC until March 3, 2005. The feat matched the flight distance record set by the previous Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft and set several world records for being the fastest non-stop, unrefuelled circumnavigation. The attempt was described as "the last great aviation record attempt", and was the first time a solo, non-stop, jet-powered and unrefueled circumnavigation had been successful. The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in its hangar in Mojave This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ... The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in its hangar in Mojave This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... Williams International is a manufacturer of small gas turbine engines. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... // Chelton Flight Systems is a part of Cobham plc Avionics and Surveillance, a division of Cobham plc, a respected aerospace company. ... FAA redirects here. ... Elbert Leander Burt Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. ... Steve Fossett Steve Fossett (born April 22, 1944, in Jackson, Tennessee) is a United States aviator and adventurer known for his appetite to set world records. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Flight distance records without refueling. ... Voyager returning from its flight The Scaled Composites Model 76 Voyager aircraft was the first to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. ... To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. ... To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. ...

The aircraft was financed by Richard Branson's airline, Virgin Atlantic, and built by Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites. The companies had previously announced a combined effort for Virgin Galactic. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... A Boeing 747-400 of Virgin Atlantic Airways An airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight. ... Virgin Atlantic Airways (usually referred to as Virgin Atlantic) is an airline belonging to Richard Bransons Virgin Group. ... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... Virgin Galactic is a company within Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group, which plans to offer sub-orbital spaceflights and later orbital spaceflights to the paying public. ...

Between February 7, 2006 – February 11, 2006, Fossett and GlobalFlyer set a record for the longest flight in history: 26,389.3 miles (42,469.46 km). February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Construction

The GlobalFlyer is the first jet aircraft designed for an uninterrupted circumnavigation of the globe and unusually, has just a single jet engine. The initial design sketch for model 311, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. ... The initial design sketch for model 311, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. ...

Physically, the GlobalFlyer aircraft resembles an enlarged, slender P-38 Lightning, with twin tail booms mounted outboard of a smaller, central nacelle. The pressurised cockpit is mounted on the leading edge of the center pod and provides seven feet of space in which the pilot sits. Unlike the P-38, or similar twin-tail designs, the solitary turbofan engine is mounted atop the manned central fuselage, several feet behind the cockpit. The outboard tail booms instead contain fuel, and end in control surfaces which are not cross-connected. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft. ... Look up nacelle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A cockpit was a pit used for cockfighting, where owners would pit fighting birds against each other for the purpose of gambling. ... For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Fan (turbofan) be merged into this article or section. ... The fuselage can be short, and seemingly unaerodynamic, as in this Christen Eagle 2 The fuselage (from the French fuselÃ© spindle-shaped) is an aircrafts main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, â€² â€“ a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A cockpit was a pit used for cockfighting, where owners would pit fighting birds against each other for the purpose of gambling. ...

The aircraft is constructed of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy, the main structural member being a slender single piece 37 m wing. The wings are made of sturdy composite materials with the skin of the aircraft being a graphite/epoxy and Aramid honeycomb. The use of lightweight materials permits the fuel (in thirteen tanks) to compose 83% of the take-off weight: an unusually high ratio in the aviation world. Carbon fiber composite is a strong, light and very expensive material. ... Graphite-reinforced plastic or carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP or CRP), is a strong, light and very expensive composite material or fibre reinforced plastic. ... WING ESPN 1410 is an commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. ... Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties and which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. ... Aramid fiber (1961) is a fire-resistant and strong synthetic fiber. ... Honeycomb Honeycombs on a Sacred fig tree A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. ...

The aircraft's aerodynamic drag is so low that, even with the engine only idling the vehicle increases speed and climbs, so that during the descent phase, tail parachutes must introduce sufficient drag to allow for a safe landing speed. Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. ... The Apollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. ... An object falling through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...

The Voyager aircraft suffered from design flaws that made it warp in shape very easily, so the GlobalFlyer is designed to have greater stiffness. It is also designed to fly much faster than the Voyager, mainly due to the endurance constraint dictated by the choice of a solo pilot; as a consequence, the Voyager's propeller system was replaced with a turbofan powerplant. Stiffness is the resistance of an elastic body to deflection by an applied force. ... It has been suggested that Fan (turbofan) be merged into this article or section. ...

The GlobalFlyer is designed to operate at high altitudes, where the air is colder. Despite this, external heaters were not included in the design. As a consequence of this, there was some concern that, if the aircraft was to use standard jet fuel, the fuel might freeze. Therefore, the GlobalFlyer's engine, a Williams International FJ44-3 ATW turbofan, which would normally take Jet-A fuel, was modified to burn lower-freezing JP-4 fuel, which is a 50-50 mix of kerosene and gasoline. Williams International is a manufacturer of small gas turbine engines. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in jet-engined aircraft. ... An aviation fuel truck. ... It has been suggested that RP-1 be merged into this article or section. ... Gasoline is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ...

Global circumnavigation

The round-the-world attempt was scheduled for early January 2005 after 27 testflights not fully fueled, from the 12,300 ft (3,750 m) runway of the municipal airport in Salina, Kansas. However, a late problem with delivering the aircraft to Salina meant that the attempt was pushed back to 28 February 2005. Image File history File linksMetadata VAGF_NASAIntercept2_800x600. ... Image File history File linksMetadata VAGF_NASAIntercept2_800x600. ... Salina is a city and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Mission Control was at the adjacent Salina campus of Kansas State University, and proved to be an extremely high-tech affair. Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States. ...

A tail wind was essential to making the 36,787.559 km that it needed to fly in order to meet the FAI's definition of circumnavigation, the length of the Tropic of Cancer. This meant that the last few hundred miles would be fairly tense, as by that point the aircraft would be nearly out of fuel. As it turned out, GlobalFlyer's fuel sensors indicated that the plane had possibly lost 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 near Japan. Steve Fossett chose to delay the final decision until he reached Hawaii. By that time, favorable winds encouraged the mission team to go ahead and attempt to complete the circumnavigation. FÃ©dÃ©ration AÃ©ronautique Internationale The FÃ©dÃ©ration AÃ©ronautique Internationale (FAI) is a standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. ...

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 46 seconds. The distance flown was determined to be 36,817 km, only about 30 km above the minimum distance required. ... CST or UTC-6 The Central Standard Time Zone (CST) is a geographic region in the Americas that keeps time by subtracting six hours from UTC (UTC-6). ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ...

Note: Since 1986, the FAI has changed the geometric requirements for circumnavigation of the world. In 1986 the Voyager was required to pass the equator, flying in both the northern and the southern hemisphere. This criterion no longer applies, allowing the pilot more flexibility in seeking tailwinds.

'The Ultimate Flight'

On Thursday, December 23, 2005, Steve Fossett announced plans to perform a second circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer, this time taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flying eastbound and landing at Kent International Airport in Kent, England. Image File history File linksMetadata VAGF_NASAIntercept_800x600. ... Image File history File linksMetadata VAGF_NASAIntercept_800x600. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) at Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area Ranked 22nd - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] kmÂ²) - Width 162 miles (260 km) - Length 497 miles (800 km) - % water 17. ... Kent International Airport (IATA: MSE, ICAO: EGMH) is an airport in Kent, England. ... This article is about the county in England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...

The flight was known as 'The Ultimate Flight' and intended to set the absolute record for the furthest flight distance ever.

On Wednesday, February 8, 2006, at 12:22 (UTC), GlobalFlyer took off and flew eastbound from Kennedy Space Center, and landed after a flight duration of 76 hours 45 minutes having travelled 26,389.3 miles (42,469.46 km). February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

This distance set a new record for the longest ever aircraft flight in history, breaking the old records of 24,987 miles in an airplane and 25,361 miles in a balloon. The landing was made at Bournemouth Airport, Fossett having declared an emergency and diverting because of a generator failure at 40,000 feet. 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 canopy obstructing Fosset's view, making his landing virtually blind; two tires burst during the landing and the fuel remaining was found only to be 200lbs. Bournemouth International Airport (IATA: BOH, ICAO: EGHH) (commonly known as Hurn Airport) is an airport about 5 miles (8km) north east of Bournemouth. ...

Aside from that, there were some relatively minor pieces of damage, such as a broken aileron hinge and a jammed intake valve, but otherwise the aircraft survived remarkably intact. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 508 KB) original description: The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft is on display for employees at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, Fla. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 508 KB) original description: The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft is on display for employees at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, Fla. ... Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) at Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. ...

External links

Categories: Individual aircraft | U.S. experimental aircraft 2000-2009 | Scaled Composites The current BBC News logo BBC News and Current Affairs is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations newsgathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (892x598, 107 KB) Photo of Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer taken at Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2006. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (892x598, 107 KB) Photo of Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer taken at Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2006. ... The Interior of the Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. ...

Contents

Construction GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Global circumnavigation

'The Ultimate Flight'

External links

Construction