Steve Fossett Missing

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?

Did he fly over Area 51 or somewhere he shouldn't have?

Re:Gov't got him?

Oh, c'mon. All joking aside, there will be plenty of wild speculation. Let's apply Occam's Razor here and say that most likely, he probably crashed somewhere. He took off from a private airstrip unannounced. No one knew where he was going or even exactly when he left. He could be just about anywhere -- most likely on the ground in pieces.

He's gone home.

It's obvious that he isn't human at all.

It's just that his vacation time ran out.

In other news

The US Military denied claims that a UFO had been shot down last night over Area 51.

Comb the Desert!

Find anything yet?

Nothing yet, sir.

Find anything yet?

Nothing yet, sir.

How about you?

We ain't found shit!

Paging Francisco D'Anconia

Perhaps he's in a secret valley somewhere, protected by a holographic screen, with other adventurers and industrialists, plotting a takeover of the world?

No idea where to look?

I'd start looking on the ground.

New record attempt?

Maybe he is trying to break the world record for the longest search party?

Possibly down in one piece.

He's out in a single engine piston aircraft so if the motor went quiet, the only option would be to land.

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.

Geography?

Nevada is not a giant dry lake bed.

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?

Misleading summary

Fossett may have been the first to fly SOLO around the world, but Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager flew round the world non stop without refueling in 1986.

Re:Misleading summary

Thank you. I also encourage people to think hard about which is really the more interesting and challenging accomplishment.

Re:Misleading summary

"I also encourage people to think hard about which is really the more interesting and challenging accomplishment."

Obviously it's spending 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds listening to a woman nag about headwinds, proper wing tilt and hygiene.

Doesnt look good...

One of the other article says he took off flying a Citaborea, which means he was going up to do aerobatics because this is a quite slow airplane for anything else.... (NOTE: Citaborea means aerobatic spelled backwards). I do not remember him being an experienced aerobatic pilot, which is a considerably different skill than just being a pilot. Meaning, I feel I am a great pilot, but a not so good aerobatic pilot other than weather related recovery type turns. I would guess he probably got in a little over his head while doing aerobatics, and went down.

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...

ITYM "Citabria" (airbatic backwards). You can use them for just buzzing around; they're about the same speed as a Piper Cub and people do make (short) trips in those.

Re:Doesnt look good...

Sorry to nitpick, but it's not a Citaborea, it's a Citabria. It's "airbatic" spelt backwards, not "aerobatic".

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).

Re:The obvious

Aliens abudcted a racecar driver?

Re:Has anybody looked here?

Has anybody tried looking here?

Where? I get a 404: Place doesn't even exist error.

Re:Fortunately, Arizona is flat

His biggest mistake: not filing that flight plan. Huge *huge* fuckup.

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.

I think I saw him...

I think he went to Burning Man [burningman.com]

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:Check Ireland

And that made for one of the greatest newspaper headlines ever!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wrong_Way_Corri gan.jpg [wikipedia.org]

That guy was awesome.

Screw Lindy...When denied a permit for a transatlantic flight because your hand-built airplane (cost 900 dollars) is deemed unflyable, make the flight anyway, and then claim you got "lost."

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.

Re:sounds like this was just a short flight

No, Alanis, that wouldn't be "ironic." It'd be unfortunate.

You don't think it's ironic for an aviation pioneer and adventurer to die on a sedate, routine flight?

Irony
5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
6. the incongruity of this.

Usage Note: The words ironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market, where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency.

Served.

Re:The winds were NOT very high this morning....

Actually, things are the other way around.

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.

"controlled-flight-into-terrain"..

Also known as "Cumulus Granite"