Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Outsiders look at the GlobalFlyer, a single-seat airplane designed to make the first solo, nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world, and wonder how a pilot could function for 70 hours in a cigar-shaped cabin so snug he cannot even get out of his seat.

Technicians at Scaled Composites, the company that built the plane, like to call it the Flying Fuel Tank. At takeoff - on Jan. 4 or as soon thereafter as the weather permits - it will weigh as much as a 50-seat commuter plane. If it is successful, it will land nearly three days later weighing less than a medium-size S.U.V.

On a recent test flight here it did not so much take off like a jet (which technically it is) as glide into the sky. Fully loaded, it will need more than two miles of runway to lift off.

The GlobalFlyer is first of all a feat of engineering - building a plane strong enough to climb into the sky with so much fuel and efficient enough to fly almost 20,000 miles without refueling. It is also a test of the pilot's skill and of human endurance.

article from the New York Times