Hmm, that title doesn’t quite give the impression I want it to, but I’m having a hard time clearly stating what I mean.
Steve Fossett is the millionaire who’s trying to circumnavigate the earth in a hot air balloon by himself. This page describes his journey.
I personally think it’s kind of neat that he keeps trying after so many mishaps, and I genuinely hope he makes it.
However, the route he’s taking seems a little…short. I know that circumnavigating the globe doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll do it at the widest spot, the equator. I know in the past when he’s tried to do a longer route, he had a hard time with various countries not wanting him in their airspace. I also understand that if he does succeed it will be a huge accomplishment, and that it’s certainly more honest than, say, launching your balloon above one of the poles, doing a quick spin around it, and then saying you’ve circumnavigated the globe.
True, the vast majority of people couldn’t care less. However, for those who do–if Steve Fossett succeeds in circumnavigating the globe alone using this route, will the shortness of the route detract at all from his accomplishment?
Well, according to the FAI (the international aviation governing body): “… the flight has to cross all meridians and has to be of a length that as a minimum is equal to half the equator length.” Here are the relevant rules.
So, it looks like he only has to cover about 12,500 miles for the flight to be officially recognized as a circumnavigation.
In Olentzero’s GQ thread Around the world on your day off?, we came to the conclusion that a ‘proper’ circumnavigation would require that you travel at least the length of one of the Tropics (Cancer or Capricorn), which is about 22,858.8 miles according to Funky McDuck’s link.
Compared to an equator of 24,980 miles, that seems sort of long- the length of the tropics seem to be 29,654km (18,425 mi).
In my opinion, a 12,500 mi circumnavigation is radically short, but I don’t makes the rules, I just follows 'em. (Going back to Olentzero’s thread, if I only have to fly 12,500 miles, I’m definitely finding a faster route around the world.)
I rather wonder how solo a flight can be when you have all the resources available to you: worldwide communications link, advanced weather forecasting, a control room filled with guys to advise you on when to raise or lower your ballon to when to take a dump.
Even if he makes it, so what? Not like he had to DO anything.
Well, the rules are a bit more complicated than the summary I posted, that was just a theoretical minimum (the full rules involve checkpoints, circular exclusion zones, and plotting great circle arcs). The rules for balloons are also different than for other types of aircraft, mostly for technical and historical reasons. Practical realities of prevailing wind conditions around the globe mean a flight will most likely be well away from the equator (the reason Fossett is so far south is the winds, not the distance), and the way the flight is measured has to be consistent with the way records were kept in the past.
When I was planning my virtual flight around the world, I wanted to make it “official” and found that for any heavier-than-air aircraft, the minimum distance would be the circumference at the Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn, and your figure (18,425 miles) is correct. The distance from the McDuck quote is wrong, and I believe it’s most likely the actual measured distance the record-breaking flight covered.
Oh, and I agree, 12,500 miles seems short, but that’s the rules and it’s still official.
By that logic, Yuri Gagarin’s first spaceflight doesn’t count, since he was little more than a manual telemetry device reading numbers off gauges while everything else was controlled automatically or by ground control. Even with the support Fossett is receiving, it’s still quite an accomplishment.
I can’t say I agree. Knuckleheads like Fosset and Richard Branson embark on these well publicized “look at me ain’t I great” expeditions with, IMHO, very little risk to themselves. They know that the cavalry will come charging in to rescue them if they get into trouble. Fosset’s 2 previous attempts resulted in people who don’t happen to be multi-millionaires risking their life and limb to save this (ahem) “adventurer.”
Fosset undoubtedly has some impressive tough guy adventurer credentials (Iditarod, Iron Man, etc. - see http://www.solospirit.wustl.edu for more info), but I think equating this kind of stunt to real adventuring or exploration by real pioneers of exploration (Lindberg, Columbus, etc.) is a bit silly.
This is a rich guy who is looking to attract attention to himself as a “daredevil” while taking on relatively little actual risk. He’s not discovering anything particularly new or interesting, nor really doing anything of benefit to much of anyone except himself.
Sorry this turned into such a rant, but I completely fail to see why so many people get so wrapped up in these contrived voyages of “discovery.”
I can’t say I agree. Knuckleheads like Fosset and Richard Branson embark on these well publicized “look at me ain’t I great” expeditions with, IMHO, very little risk to themselves. They know that the cavalry will come charging in to rescue them if they get into trouble. Fosset’s 2 previous attempts resulted in people who don’t happen to be multi-millionaires risking their life and limb to save this (ahem) “adventurer.”
Fosset undoubtedly has some impressive tough guy adventurer credentials (Iditarod, Iron Man, etc. - see http://www.solospirit.wustl.edu for more info), but I think equating this kind of stunt to real adventuring or exploration by real pioneers of exploration (Lindberg, Columbus, etc.) is a bit silly.
This is a rich guy who is looking to attract attention to himself as a “daredevil” while taking on relatively little actual risk. He’s not discovering anything particularly new or interesting, nor really doing anything of benefit to much of anyone except himself.
Sorry this turned into such a rant, but I completely fail to see why so many people get so wrapped up in these contrived voyages of “discovery.”
The way they go might have something to do with the winds. The tropics are something of a deadzone for surface winds, that I know, but it should apply higher. If you’re in a ballon you nice nice strong easterly winds to do it. So you’d want to get near things like the jet streams which all seem to be about 45[sup]o[/sup] north or south.