A guy named Steve Fossett is missing somewhere in Nevada

[RB TexLa]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070904/ap_on_re_us/steve_fossett_3



By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago

RENO, Nev. - A small plane carrying aviation adventurer Steve Fossett has been missing since Monday night, federal officials said Tuesday.

Fossett took off in the single engine Bellanca at 8:45 a.m. Monday at a private airstrip on a ranch south of Smith Valley in western Nevada and didn't return as scheduled. A friend reported him missing, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Maryland.

"The Civil Air Patrol is looking for him. One problem is he doesn't appear to have filed a flight plan," Gregor told The Associated Press.

[XOKCowboy]

1. Uh Oh... Not good...

Steve Fossett made the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. He's a little more than just some guy. He took off from the middle of nowhere (30m south of Yerington certainly qualifies) and didn't file a flight plan. There's a lot of nothing out there. I hope somehow he makes it out OK but it doesn't look good.

[karlrschneider]

2. Yeah, no ELT signal apparently...rats

...

[Jacobin]

3. My memory is not as good as it used to be

But I thought Charles Yeager made the first non stop around the world non-refueled flight in an airplane in a Dick Routan designed craft.

I know Fossett did something similar later, but it seems like it was in a plane powered by a jet engine.

I'm off to google.

[LearnedHand]

4. Fossett is a balloonist, not a powered-craft aviator (nt)

[Jacobin]

5. both, actually. see below

Steve Fossett has become the first person to fly a plane solo, non-stop around the globe without refuelling.
He completed his mission despite a fuel shortage, landing the Virgin GlobalFlyer at 1950 GMT in Salina, Kansas, where he took off on Tuesday.

The US millionaire had considered aborting the trip and landing in Hawaii, but he decided to press on because of favourable tail winds.

"What a day," he said as he emerged from the plane after a 67-hour journey.

[VP505]

6. Hope he didn't

head east or southeast, that's some un-godly desolate country out there.

[XOKCowboy]

7. Here is a much more detailed link...

from the Reno Gazzette-Journal. It seems they've set up rescue ops in Minden which is east of Yerington. This story also has a good bio of Fossett. It seems he was in Reno because he was going to try to break the Land Speed Record and go 800 mph in Craig Breedlove's former rocket car.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070904/NEWS18/70904019&oaso=news.rgj.com/breakingnews

[soothsayer]

8. kinda ironic that he made it through all his dangerous stuff and a simple hop

may have done him in