Steve Fossett Missing 317
jd writes "Steve Fossett, the first person to fly a plane around the world without refueling, the first person to fly around the world in a balloon, and possibly the record-holder for the highest-altitude glider flight, is missing in Nevada. He is reported to have taken off in a light aircraft last night and has not been seen since. As he had filed no flight plan, would-be rescuers have no idea where to even begin looking. The plane took off from a private airstrip on a ranch at the south end of Smith Valley in western Nevada."
Gov't got him? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Gov't got him? (Score:5, Insightful)
He's gone home. (Score:5, Funny)
It's just that his vacation time ran out.
welcome to slashdot (Score:2, Funny)
The obvious (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The obvious (Score:5, Funny)
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More likely Amelia Earhart [ameliaearhart.com]
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More likely Amelia Earhart [ameliaearhart.com]
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In other news (Score:5, Funny)
Comb the Desert! (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing yet, sir.
Find anything yet?
Nothing yet, sir.
How about you?
We ain't found shit!
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Re:Comb the Desert! (Score:5, Funny)
Dark Helmet: No you fool, we're following orders. We were told to comb the desert so we're combing it.
Has anybody looked here? (Score:2)
Re:Has anybody looked here? (Score:5, Funny)
Where? I get a 404: Place doesn't even exist error.
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The winds were NOT very high this morning.... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The winds were NOT very high this morning.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Light aircraft parachutes have been around for some time now, and emergency beacons are practically a throw-away item. At this point in the light aircraft/experimental aircraft game, fatal crashes involving the ground (as opposed to buildings, mountains, seagulls, etc) should be relatively rare and rescuers should never be stumped.
Yes, I most definitely hope Steve Fossett is safe, but whether he is safe or not, I think that given the current state of technology, it would be good if questions were being asked as to why we don't even know. Are the parachutes so overpriced or unavailable that even someone like Mr. Fossett could not afford one? Are the laws on transmitters so onerous that only idiots would fly with a distress beacon of adequate power?
(Yes, people should be entitled to take whatever risks they like with their own lives, provided they understand what those are, but implicit in the concept of entitlement is that it is practical and lawful to mitigate those risks as much as possible when doing exactly the same thing. Otherwise, it is not the risk that has the entitlement, it's the activity. The risk is mandatory.)
Re:The winds were NOT very high this morning.... (Score:5, Informative)
Sufficient requirements for design and inspection make even single-engined aircraft astonishingly reliable.
Most accidents are caused by operator error -- either fuel starvation, controlled-flight-into-terrain, or unsafe flying.
Also, ballistic parachutes are not available for all aircraft. There needs to be an appropriate structural member for them to be attached to and the correct parachute characteristics need to be set. Only with ultralights can you buy one off the rack.
Likewise, an emergency locater beacon generally needs to survive the accident and be triggered, either automatically or manually. These aren't built like airliner black-boxes.
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"controlled-flight-into-terrain".. (Score:5, Funny)
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Steve also often wears a Breitling 'Emergency' watch that transmits on an emergency waveband when you pull the crown out. That obviously requires him to be conscious enough to do it.
It's particularly amazing that something like this can happen to Steve, given his unbelievable amount of experience under extreme avaiation conditions including several emergencies.
Steve is the most thorough, and conscientious of flyers who leaves nothing to chance, and is actually very risk-averse.
Ri
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There are bold pilots and there are bold pilots, but no old bold pilots.
Fossett took some extreme risks - knowing what he was doing - but this routine flight seems too stupid to have ended fatally. All will no doubt be revealed. It had better not be a publicity stunt.
Check Ireland (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Check Ireland (Score:5, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wrong_Way_Corr
That guy was awesome. (Score:5, Informative)
The guy made the flight with a couple of candy bars and a bottle of water, and a fuel leak inside the cockpit which he knew about before he left, but didn't fix because he didn't want to miss his flight window.
It's that fine line between bravery and stupidity; he lived, so he was brave.
Paging Francisco D'Anconia (Score:5, Funny)
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No idea where to look? (Score:5, Funny)
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New record attempt? (Score:5, Funny)
Possibly down in one piece. (Score:5, Informative)
In theory and from what I know of Nevada's geography, finding somewhere reasonable to put the plane down shouldn't be a big issue.
However, once down, he may be right up the middle of nowhere. You'd assume he'd just get on the radio but if it's an old Bellanca, there may be no battery power available, in a new Bellanca the fault that stopped the engine may also prevent the radio from working. Nevada's geography with raised ranges may block a radio signal in places and it may even be the case that he went out 'non-radio' as some pilots still do.
I do rather hope he's okay but the moral here is never go x-country without 'booking-out' first even if that means just telling your friend where you're going.
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Unless you count post-crash fire.
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I'd be surprised if any Bellanca's old or big enough to have a windmill generator aboard.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless the Bellanca needs to be hand-propped to start it, it will have a battery and alternator aboard for the electric starter. If you've got that, you might as well have the alternator power radios and instruments.
I'd be surprised if any Bellanca's old or big enough to have a windmill generator aboard.
Even assuming a complete electrical failure, GPP is correct in that the mags would keep the prop turning and I think a windmill generator is an unusual bit of kit for most small birds. Most of the aviators I know (including myself) carry a back-up handheld radio for basic communications if the radios go down. Losing radios is hardly an emergency, however, and a pilot of Fossett's experience would doubtless have seen the alternator fail on his gauges long before his battery was exhausted.
Here's hoping
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Assuming that he checked the battery recently.
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Re:Possibly down in one piece. (Score:4, Informative)
I don't know anything about this particular case, but his plane is probably equipped with an ELT [wikipedia.org] which would probably be going off if he crashed. Unless he crashed really hard and broke the ELT too. (Crashing in water is another popular way of stopping them from working
Hopefully it's all much ado about nothing and he's just landed somewhere (normally) and is enjoying the local scenery, unaware that he's lost ... though I guess that's unlikely at this point.
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I've taken enough flying classes to call BS on that. There is no such thing as a "routine flight". Hell, he could have at least phoned a friend, or one of the guys in the tower and given them a rough idea idea of where he'd be headed.
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There is no such thing as a "routine flight".
Well, OK ... perhaps routine means something different to you, or perhaps your instructor drilled it into your head to expect trouble in every flight. Sounds like a good policy.
But you do have to be aware that 99+% of all flights end up being uneventful, and were expected to be that way (even if the pilot always plans for the worst.) I'll bet he filed flight plans for his world-record attempts, but like many other pilots, if he's just flying down to the next city to get some lunch, he might not. Sur
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Geography? (Score:5, Informative)
As someone who has traversed just a tiny bit of the variety of off-highway terrain Nevada/Arizona/Utah/East California has to offer, I find it doubtful he could put it down safely. If he went due north, then it doesn't get any easier to land it.
Let's imagine for a minute he gets insanely lucky and lands without killing himself. He's exposed to some of the hottest, driest weather in the US. How much drinking water is in single-engine plane? How much water could he carry if he were crazy enough to consider walking out?
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A lack of water and the generally high temperatures are probably his biggest concerns depending on where he landed. On the same token it's goin
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And even if you tell a friend - carry an EPIRB/PLT/ELT [wikipedia.org].
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He did, at least to the extent possible. According to Yahoo's latest article:
"We understand that Steve Fossett was flying solo and he was carrying four full tanks of gas on board. He was searching for dry and empty lake beds which might be suitable for his plan to break the land speed record." [yahoo.com]
He didn't file a flight plan, because he didn't ha
Misleading summary (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Misleading summary (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Misleading summary (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously it's spending 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds listening to a woman nag about headwinds, proper wing tilt and hygiene.
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The greater engineering challenge is the first one. Once you know how it can be done, and apply the lessons learned from the first flight, adding one more element of difficulty is much easier. I think an average pilot with a plane built by Scaled Composites and supervised by the last person to do this same flight would have had the same chance to make the second flight solo.
Is that the right answer? Do tell.
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So there are actually a number of reasons to believe that doing this solo was not nearly as great an accomplishment as doing it with two people.
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Fortunately, Arizona is flat (Score:3, Insightful)
His biggest mistake: not filing that flight plan. Huge *huge* fuckup.
Re:Fortunately, Arizona is flat (Score:5, Insightful)
Quoted for truth. Private pilots, for the love of your friends and relatives, PLEASE file a flight plan whenever and wherever you fly. It's fucking hard to find a crash site if you don't know where to look and have to guess based on the aircraft's range. It's also a major waste of rescue time and resources, and you have an excellent chance of dying from exposure or injuries before you're found.
IOW, just crash the damn airplane into a cornfield somewhere if you want to commit suicide. Leave a note first.
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Nonsense. Whatever the biggest mistake was that led to his now being missing, failure to file a flight plan was not it.
A VFR flight plan is is basically useless. If I'm going to flying over hostile territory (hostile here means if I have an engine failure there will not be a safe place to land and get fuel, maintenance, etc.) I'd rather tell my loved ones and friends rather than the FAA. I leave my route of flight with said loved one with instructions that if he doesn't hear from me by time X, call the FA
sounds like this was just a short flight (Score:2)
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Re:sounds like this was just a short flight (Score:4, Insightful)
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I mean, Scott Crossfield anybody?
Re:sounds like this was just a short flight (Score:5, Insightful)
Irony
5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
6. the incongruity of this.
Doesnt look good... (Score:5, Interesting)
I hope this is not the case, but this type of thing is fairly common in the aerobatic world. Hence, the reason why they require the use of parachute(s)...
Re:Doesnt look good... (Score:5, Informative)
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Also, I agree with you that he might have been just going up for a slow flight, as this aircraft would be very good at doing this. I have a couple hours in a Piper Cub, and I also very much enjoyed it just buzzing around... Seeing how slow the stall on this airplane, though, I could not see any reason for loosing it other than a structural failure. Meaning he could have even pancaked this little bird in trees if he had engine trouble...
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Re:Doesnt look good... (Score:5, Informative)
And I _very_ much doubt your claim that Steve Fossett is inexperienced in Aerobatics. On the contrary, 5 minutes browsing his biography will convince you that this man's aeronautical experience is immensely broad. It's inconceivable that someone with his tremendous breadth of flying experience and appetite for adventure never bothered to train in aerobatics.
Just consider the number of experimental/prototype/one-of-a-kind planes he has test flown and then set records in. You don't test-fly these things without a substantial background in aerobatics.
And I doubt that his intent for the Citabria flight involved aerobatics. Despite the name, those planes are barely capable of aerobatics at all. A Citabria is about the last choice someone of Steve's wealth and experience is likely to choose for aerobatics. Much more likely, he chose to fly a Citarbria because of the things it's _good_ for: Slow, low, relaxed, sightseeing flight, short-field takeoff and landing, etc.
(PS I'm speaking as an aerobatic pilot myself, and also a former Citabria owner).
That's "Citabria" (Score:3, Informative)
First I heard it was "aerobatic" backwards.
I only read the linked article, it didn't say which Bellanca. Super Viking would have been a decent choice, but I'll check again for the linked articles.
Ok, it's a Super Decathalon... (Score:3, Informative)
A great Bush plane actually, I wouldn't assume he was going up to do aerobatics based upon that.
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In the sense that it gets lost in the desert and has no exit strategy?
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I used to own a Turbo Viking (Super Viking with Rajay Turbos), and I can tell you that it is terrible as an aerobatic airplane.. It is just way too heavy for anything other than gentle 1G rolls...
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He was not flying a Citabria, but a Super Decathlon. The Decathlon is like a souped-up Citabria that can do "outside" manouevres -- things like inverted flight and outside loops. The Citabria doesn't like to fly upside down, but the Decathlon is perfectly at home either way up. (Ordinary engines don't run upside-down, you need some special features.) The Decathlon also has a symmetric wing, for that same outside stuff.
(Yes, I have a lot of time flying Citabrias and Decathlons. Acro, even. The Citabria is
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No flight plan? No beacon? (Score:2)
Please explain to me why a pilot as experienced as Fossett does not file a flight plan - does not carry a beacon.
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Because experience can often generate a sort of arrogance. "I'm Steve Fossett, I can fly anything anywhere anytime, and thus possess superhuman aeronautic capabilities."
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They are required in IFR (i.e., bad weather). They are not required in VFR, but are a good idea, in case this sort of thing happens.
After taking 5 different small-craft flights in the last week (vacation), I noted that a flight plan was filed only once - in heavy traffic around Denali. Weather the rest of the time was good enough, and the flights short enough, to not require a flight plan. Plus there weren't any ATC towe
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I believe the ELT is required by law for most GA airplanes. His plane probably has one.
Of course, if the crash is bad enough, it might be destroyed rather than automatically go off. Or if he crashes into a lake ...
Or maybe he just landed at his destination and is enjoying some coffee at a local cafe, and turns on the news to find that he's missing ...
It's too early to tell.
Other stories are available..... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6978818.stm [bbc.co.uk]
His profile is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2078591.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Uh Oh (Score:4, Funny)
It looks like Fossett may have gone down the drain. Water we going to do about it!? If we want to find him we may have to tap all our resources.
If you are going to get lost in the middle of ... (Score:2)
If you are going to get lost in the middle of nowhere, you need one of these [wickedlasers.com].
Analysis (Score:2, Interesting)
2 to 5 hours of duration.
An article suggests that he told a friend that he would return by noon.
He left at 9 A.M.
If he only took enough fuel to get to his waypoint and return then
his total expected duration would be 3 hours.
This means his expected outbound waypoint should be within 1.5 hours
of departure.
If he's flying something like a cessna 170, his top speed is ~140 MPH.
If we calculate for 160 MPH to take into account either foolhardiness
or mass
Burning Man (Score:2)
Last known location? (Score:2)
11912'59.09"W
is this the airstrip?
Whether or not he was stupid, can we stop laughing (Score:3, Insightful)
He may or may not have been stupid or suicidal or whatever, but for the sake of his family, friends etc, can we stop making cheap fucking jokes about it.
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+5 Keeping it Real
I think I saw him... (Score:5, Funny)
Last I saw him, some chick in a crotchless monkey suit had gotten him totally pissed and convinced him to rip the antenna off of his aircraft to roast wieners over the coals of The Man.
Re:party time... (Score:4, Funny)
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Global Flyer not in Wikipedia? (Score:2)
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