Pardon me for raining on Steve Fossett's parade, but isn't
his "world record solo balloon flight" a bit of a cheat? First, it
took him, what, eight tries? Second, he had bottomless
funding to keep making high-tech improvements on his
balloon technology. And finally, and most damning, if you
start in Australia, fly to New Zealand, and keep going east till
you hit Australia again, that's circumnavigation, sure, but not
so impressive and lengthy a voyage as starting and ending
on the equator. And the "southern route" is basically what he
did. I wince every time I hear some media ho refer to him as
a "world record holder." Oh well, at least it wasn't Richard
Branson.
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his "world record solo balloon flight" a bit of a cheat? First, it
took him, what, eight tries? Second, he had bottomless
funding to keep making high-tech improvements on his
balloon technology. And finally, and most damning, if you
start in Australia, fly to New Zealand, and keep going east till
you hit Australia again, that's circumnavigation, sure, but not
so impressive and lengthy a voyage as starting and ending
on the equator. And the "southern route" is basically what he
did. I wince every time I hear some media ho refer to him as
a "world record holder." Oh well, at least it wasn't Richard
Branson.
- tom moody 8-10-2002 10:08 pm