Fossett Takes Off: Around the World in 80 Hours

Yesterday,
we mentioned millionaire adventurer Steve
Fossett and his grand new adventure. The hyper ambitious Fossett, who holds some 109 world  records, set out
today to break by 700 miles the 26,366-mile nonstop distance record set in 1986 by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in a
nine-day flight.

His experimental plane, the GlobalFlyer aircraft, has a massive wingspan which he hopes
will suffice to get him around the world in 80 hours. The plane took off this morning at 7:20 a.m. from a rented runway
used by NASA’s space shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Everyone cross your fingers for a successful trip.