|
|
Article: Steve Fossett.(Steve Fossett, adventurer and record-breaker)(In memoriam)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 23, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Steve Fossett, adventurer and record-breaker, was declared dead on February 15th, aged 63
THE aircraft in which Steve Fossett took off from the Flying M ranch in Nevada on September 3rd 2007 was nothing special. It was not the stiff white dragonfly GlobalFlyer, a delicate construction of carbon fibre with all its interstices filled with fuel, in which in 2005 he had made the first non-stop solo flight round the world. Nor was it the silvery inflated sphere, ten storeys high and fitted with giant propane burners, in which in 2002 he had made the first solo circumnavigation of the globe by balloon. It was a Bellanca Super Decathlon two-seater with a single engine, ...