The Scaled Composites/Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft and pilot Steve Fossett are poised for a dawn takeoff from the space shuttle runway here in a high-risk bid to eclipse the Breitling balloon and Voyager aircraft world absolute distance flight records. The goal is for the GlobalFlyer to circle the globe, then cross the Atlantic a second time to set a new unrefueled distance record of more than 26,000 mi. The attempt is scheduled to begin as early as Feb. 1-3. During a planned 80-hr. flight, Fossett is to head east across the Atlantic, circumnavigate the globe, then overfly the Kennedy area from the west before heading out over the Atlantic again toward a planned landing at Kent International Airport near London.
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