Fossett unveils Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

Mr Record Breaker to go single handed around the world - by jet plane

Here in the California high desert, and the home of aviation record-setting for over half a century, Virgin Atlantic today unveiled the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer -- an extraordinary 114-foot wingspan, single engine jet in which Steve Fossett aims to become the first solo pilot to fly non-stop around the world later this year. The pioneering aircraft -- the world's most efficient jet plane -- has been designed and built by aviation legend Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites. Today's unveiling is the latest project milestone, following four years of design and construction and marking the beginning of an exciting final phase of development and flight-testing.

"It is fantastic to see this unique experimental aircraft in all its glory," said Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic. "This has been a dream of Steve's for quite some time, and Virgin Atlantic is proud and delighted to sponsor this historic project."

"I am truly impressed, almost beyond words, looking at this amazing and beautiful airplane," said Fossett. "Burt Rutan's team at Scaled have turned a dream into engineering reality. And I consider myself enormously fortunate to have as project 'patron' my friend and former ballooning partner Sir Richard Branson. Richard and Virgin Atlantic are true, record-setting pioneers and they understand what this project is all about -- setting the most ambitious goals, meeting the most extraordinary challenges."

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer is a single pilot, single engine turbofan aircraft specifically designed for one mission -- a non-stop global circumnavigation. Fuel load, weight and strength are paramount. The main structure is constructed entirely from advanced composite materials and the aircraft can carry more than four times its own weight in fuel -- enough to power the specially designed Williams FJ44-3 jet engine for the entire flight. At take off the plane (including fuel and pilot Fossett) will weigh 22,006 lbs. Less than 80 hours and some 23,000 miles later, it will have shed 18,000 lbs. of fuel to land near its dry weight of a little under 4,000 lbs.

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer will fly at altitudes up to 52,000 feet and travel at speeds in excess of 250 knots (287 mph, 463 kph). Careful flight planning, weather routing and navigation should allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to benefit from the high-altitude jet stream, adding speed, conserving fuel and enabling the mission to meet its target time of 80 hours.

According to Fossett and Branson, the next steps in the attempt to achieve the first great aviation feat of the 21st century include flight testing by Scaled Composites test pilots, selecting a launch airport with a 12,000-foot runway, fine tuning the route and establishing a mission control site. The flight will take off from a centrally located site in the U.S. in either April or November of 2004, depending on test results and the jet stream season.

Pilot Steve Fossett is well known for his record-breaking adventures in balloons, sailboats, gliders and powered aircraft. He is a pilot of exceptional breadth of experience -- from his tenacious quest to become the first person to achieve a solo balloon flight around the world (finally succeeding on his 6th attempt in 2002) to setting, with co-pilot Terry Delore, nine of the 21 Glider Open records, including the first 2,000 km Out-and-Return and the first 1,500 km Triangle flights. His achievements as a jet pilot for Cessna in a Citation X include records for U.S. Transcontinental, Australia Transcontinental, and Round-the-World Westbound non-supersonic flights. In 2002 Fossett received aviation's highest award, the Gold Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

Sir Richard Branson, who will accompany the flight in a support aircraft, sports his own history of dashing accomplishments. In addition to his spectacular successes in the music, telecommunications, and airline industries (Virgin Records, Virgin Music Group, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Atlantic Airways), Branson's taste for adventure led him in 1986 to set the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in his boat Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. In 1987, the Virgin Atlantic Flyer, with Branson at the controls, became the first hot air balloon to cross the Atlantic. Branson assailed the other great oceanic challenge in 1991, crossing the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, again breaking all existing records with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 2.6 million cubic feet. In the late 1990s, Branson and Fossett began a spirited competition to become the first to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. They eventually joined forces but were not able to achieve the feat. In 2002 Fossett succeeded on a solo flight aboard Bud Light Spirit of Freedom.