As usual, engineers didn't have as good a press day as they should..
Just look at what one TV news clip managed to convey:
The engineers lost him all that fuel and have no idea where it went except that it "evaporated". But presumably it made the plane lighter and hence better able to exploit tail winds: I don't think it "evaporated", I think maybe he dumped it but didn't want to tell anyone. Small risk, he could always land early.
No, Richard Bransom's the man[/].
At least, he was the one basking in the limelight on TV. I have no idea why. Did he design it? Pay for it? sponsor it? He certainly had his air time.
Steve Fosset, congratulations! (but did you dump that fuel?)
As usual, EVERY news report I have seen has missed the point. Do people really have such short memories? He wasn't the first person to fly around the world without stopping or refuelling. The reason it is a record is because he did it alone (more an achievement of endurance rather than technology). I suppose you could argue that he did it in the fastest time and that his craft used turbine-based engines. As a 'first' I don't think it compares with Yeager and Rutan's Voyager flight.
What was surprising was that American millionaire Steve Fosset was financed by British millionaire Richard Branson. Does this show how much the value of the dollar has dropped?
