Mark Hannant
Long-haul legend Steve Fosset landed another world record last week.
It took Fosset and his two co-pilots, fellow American Darrin Adkins and Britain's Alex Tai, just 41h 13min 11sec to circle the globe. In doing so, Fosset's Cessna Citation X twin-engined business jet knocked more than 6h off the previous medium-weight aircraft record.
The route took the jet-set team from Los Angeles through Bermuda, Agadir, Luxor, Cal-cutta, Nagasaki, Midway and back to Los Angeles.
Fosset, a record-breaking balloonist, yachtsman and aviator was ecstatic on touchdown. "This was a great thrill. To fly this fast was the ultimate tour."
The stopovers were quick, he says. "Our fastest pitstop was at Midway where we only took 18min 44sec from touchdown to wheels up - including the 10min it took to take on 1,600gal of fuel."
Official observer Mike Pablo says of the flight: "This was a testament to the skills and co-ordinated effort of the entire crew. It was also a lot of fun.
"We had a tremendous tailwind over China, more than 170kt. I saw 826mph round speed on the indicator at one point - as well as three sunsets and three sunrises."
The record is awaiting final certification from the FAI and NAA.
Source: Flight Daily News
