Around the World, With 13 Fuel Tanks and a Single Seat

NY Times ^ | November 30, 2004 | MATTHEW L. WALD

[Rebelbase]

And a load of diaperene applied pre-flight.

[roaddog727]

There you go, A pre-flight cosmic butt-blaster cocktail!

[azhenfud]

"...wonder how a pilot could function for 70 hours in a cigar-shaped cabin so snug he cannot even get out of his seat."

Depends.

[shaggy eel]

ping

[jordan8]

But he will need more than skill.

Like an amphetamine the size of a golf ball. Recently I read an article on sleep that talked about a drug that keeps you awake without the speed-like side effects.

22,859 / 70 = 326.56 mph. Probably the reason for the jet, though a turboprop would be more fuel efficient.

[WildTurkey]

At the risk of being a spoil sport, it seems to me that it would be pretty easy to do a solo, around the world, unrefueled flight by taking a 747, stripping out all the seats and adding additional fuel tanks in the cargo hold and the passenger compartment. You'd probably have to overload it a bit and the takeoff would be a little hairy, but that also seems to be the case with Rutan's design.

Check the numbers. It will either never leave the ground or it will not make it around the earth.

[r9etb]

Check the numbers. It will either never leave the ground or it will not make it around the earth.

Range for a fully-loaded 747 is about 5200 nmi, or roughly 25% of the way around the world. That assumes a constant payload weight (not true if the payload is fuel) and a standard fuel load (also not true if the payload is fuel).

You may be correct, and I'm not an airplane performance guy, but I think that, given these factors, a suitably-modified 747 could probably get pretty close to making it.

[El Gran Salseron]

Not enough lift in the wings of a 747. Look at the wings on that pic and consider that it is all composite.....a lot lighter than aluminum.

[blackie]

Wow ~ that's wild! :)

[WildTurkey]

If you check the numbers you will see that you MIGHT be able to carry 50% more fuel on takeoff. Even with the decreasing weight during flight, that won't get you around the world.

[Chode]

Blast OFF!!!

[Travis McGee]

The man is a force of nature. He set out to smash every significant sailing record, and he did. Ditto ballooning.

[r9etb]

Maybe so -- I can confirm your 50% number. Not a performance guy, so I can't challenge your other assertion.

[LibertarianInExile]

It's a P-38 with a jet! What a great idea, taking the most solid plane ever built as a base and improving it! I want one!

[LibertarianInExile]

On what?

[rimshot]

[azhenfud]

"On what?"

On the pilot.

[snopercod]

Thanks for the ping.

I'm glad they lost the canard like the Voyager had, which caused the cabin to pitch up and down in turbulence.

[avg_freeper]

max passenger number ~ 452
200 lbs/passenger * 452 passengers = 90400 lbs

current Max range = 6100 miles
Earth circumference = 24901 miles

you would need fuel in fuselage for 18801 extra miles or about 3 times current Max range

and therefore 3 times current main tank capacity in the fuselage
(not considering increased GW effects on range which is stupid but ok to make this silly point)

fuel for current max range = 48445gals
6.7 lbs/gal * 48445 gals = 324581 lbs (you probably see what's coming)

weight of fuel needed in fuselage = (324581*3)lbs = 973774 lbs

This is an order of MAGNITUDE greater in weight than the current max passenger weight. The whole plane weighs less than 800,000!!!!

Thank you for playing.

[shaggy eel]

,,, Fossett never sits still - always something on the go.

[concordKIWI]

This is very cool