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Around the World in Three Days

By Andrea Delbanco

Steve Fossett spent 67 hours alone, fighting sleep, miles above the earth, with nothing to eat but milkshakes. It paid off. Last Thursday, he became the first person to fly solo, nonstop, around the world.

The 60-year-old millionaire adventurer already holds records for other fantastic firsts. In 2002, he successfully circled the globe alone in a hot-air balloon. In 2004, he sailed around the earth in just 58 days.

Fossett's plane, the GlobalFlyer, was specially designed for this trip. The single-engine jet has 13 tanks that can carry 18,100 pounds of fuel. When Fossett took off from Salina, Kansas, on February 28, his plane dipped and struggled, heavy from holding so much fuel. After the plane started to climb, Fossett and his ground crew grew more confident.

Going for it
But that confidence faded on the second day of the flight. Fossett discovered that according to sensors, the GlobalFlyer had lost 2,600 pounds of fuel. He feared that the 23,000-mile flight would have to end early. "This is a huge setback," he said.

With the Pacific Ocean stretching ahead of him, Fossett decided not to abandon the mission. He hoped that strong tailwinds would push the plane, helping it to use less gas. "Let's go for it," he advised mission control.

Cameras rolled and the crowd cheered when Fossett landed back in Kansas on March 3. With a big smile, he said, "That was something I've wanted to do to for a long time."

Other Round-Trips

Before there were airplanes, adventurers set out to circle the globe. Here are some highlights.

1522
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads a sailing expedition around the globe. Before that trip, many believed the world was flat.

1580
Sir Francis Drake, an English admiral, sails the world on the Golden Hind. After his successful trip, Queen Elizabeth I makes Drake a knight.

1929
German Hugo Eckener flies around the world in a Graf Zeppelin, a rigid airship that was known as the "giant of the air."

1986
Americans Dick Rutan and Jenna Yeager copilot the first nonstop flight around the world. Their plane is now at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

1999
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones circle the earth in a hot-air balloon called the Breitling Orbiter 3. Their nonstop trip takes 19 days.

Next: Honoring Jackie Robinson