Has anyone circumnavigated The Earth non stop in a Glider?

[TVR1]

Just wondering?

[davepoth]

Yuri Gagarin. Sort of.

[Gargamel]

I think QinetiQ had a solar plane that has tried, but not sure if it made it. Not really a true glider though.

[Simpo Two]

It might be possible but you'd fall asleep before you got round.



NB Mr Gagarin was in freefall, not gliding

[Hooli]

Didn't the shuttle get most of the way around the earth between touching the atmosphere & landing?

[Eric Mc]

Hooli said:

Didn't the shuttle get most of the way around the earth between touching the atmosphere & landing?

About 1/3. Re-enters over Indian Ocean. Lands in Florida. To be truthful, for a lot of that segment it is in ballistic free fall rather than true aerodynamic flight.

A true glide around the circumference of the earth would be an extremely tall order.

Only two powered, unrefueled flights of that type have ever been made.

[anonymous-user]

http://www.fai.org/record-gliding

Lots of gliding (and other) aviation records here. Well short of a circumnavigation though. http://www.angusadventures.com/circumnavigations.h...

I expect the lack of lift for large sections of any circumnavigation route would make such a journey in a glider impossible.

[Dr Jekyll]

Eric Mc said:

About 1/3. Re-enters over Indian Ocean. Lands in Florida. To be truthful, for a lot of that segment it is in ballistic free fall rather than true aerodynamic flight.

A true glide around the circumference of the earth would be an extremely tall order.

Only two powered, unrefueled flights of that type have ever been made.

Two? One was Rutan Voyager but which was the other?

[Eric Mc]

Steve Fosset's solo flight in Rutan's Global Flyer in 2005 -

[Eric Mc]

For the record, here's the earlier Rutan Voyager - which flew around the world non-stop in 1986 -

[SimonV8ster]

How is that classified as a glider if it has a prop on it ? Just curious.....

[Eric Mc]

Nobody said it was.

[Pvapour]

TVR1 said:

Just wondering?

yurp, did it last week, its nothing special really.

[Wedg1e]

Eric Mc said:

For the record, here's the earlier Rutan Voyager - which flew around the world non-stop in 1986 -

Bet the pilot was busting for a dump by the time he landed...