Fossett Reflects On Record Flight

After covering 23,000 miles in 67 hours, Steve Fossett was ready for a bath, a good meal and a nap. First, though, he had some champagne to sip.

The millionaire adventurer on Thursday became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling.

"Believe me, it's great to be back on the ground," Fossett said. "It's one of the hardest things I've ever done."

At times, it seemed Fossett would not achieve what he described as "my ambition." Problems with the jet's fuel system forced him to consider cutting his trip short. On Wednesday, engineers determined the GlobalFlyer lost 2,600 of the original 18,100 pounds of jet fuel. The loss took Fossett's jet down to the bare minimum needed to return to Kansas.

"I had a very serious problem because this was all about being able to carry enough fuel to make it all the way around the world," Fossett said in

Fossett and Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic founder who financed the flight, agreed the fuel most likely was siphoned through vents on the two main boom tanks early in the flight.

Facing a decision near Hawaii about whether to land or press ahead over the vast Pacific Ocean for the U.S. mainland, Fossett told his team, "Let's go for it." Hours later, pushed by strong tail winds that left him with enough in the tanks to finish the global trek, he safely crossed over Los Angeles.

Branson said he had faith in Fossett's ability to complete the attempt, despite the fuel scare.

"It was possible he'd have to turn back and start again, but knowing
Steve, it's not something that is in his nature to do," Branson told The Early Show. "He obviously made the right decision."

Fossett completed his journey in the same place it started, the north central Kansas town of Salina. Tens of thousands watched him land his custom-built GlobalFlyer at the airport.

Fossett, 60, had failed five times before successfully circumnavigating the globe solo in a balloon, but he needed just one try in a plane. He holds many other records as a balloonist, pilot and sailor.

The GlobalFlyer, designed by the same engineer of the Voyager aircraft that first completed the trip in 1986 with two pilots, could end up in the Smithsonian. Fossett said the museum had been in touch with him.

Immediately after landing Thursday, a jubilant Fossett hugged his wife, Peggy, and was congratulated by Branson.

"That was something I wanted to do for a long time, a major ambition," Fossett said.

Branson grabbed a bottle of champagne from Fossett, shook it up and sprayed down the pilot.

"It's been a magnificent trip," Branson said. "He was obviously over the moon about it."

Fossett said he survived on 12 milkshakes and water during the flight. He said his main problems were headaches, which went away when he drank water, and a lack of sleep. Fossett used bottles as his bathroom.

He said he was overwhelmed by the number of people who welcomed him at the airport and who watched the flight on television and the Internet. But he insisted his adventures were not publicity stunts.

"They're fascinating from the technology standpoint and from the endurance standpoint," Fossett told The Early Show. "I really do it just for the personal satisfaction of taking on a difficult task and pulling it off."

Fossett chose Salina as mission control because he needed a long runway for the takeoff and landing. The runway in Salina — once used to train WWII bomber crews — extends 12,300 feet.

Fossett, 60, set his ballooning record in 2002, taking off and landing in Australia. He also has swum the English Channel, taken part in the Iditarod sled dog race and driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race.

The GlobalFlyer's trip broke several other aviation records, including the longest flight by a jet without refueling. The record was more than 12,000 miles, set by a B-52 bomber in 1962.

Aviation pioneer Wiley Post made the first solo around-the-world trip in 1933, taking more than seven days and stopping numerous times. The first nonstop global flight without refueling was made in a propeller-driven aircraft in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.