03 Mar 2005 | Fred, the real Fred said...

What's also amazing is Burt Rutan and Scaled.

03 Mar 2005 | I. Dunhim said...

He's also quite the lover. ;)

03 Mar 2005 | Fred, the real Fred said...

Yes, but he's no Jeff Bezos

03 Mar 2005 | Jeff Croft said...

This has been a pretty big deal here. I work for Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. Our nearby Salina, KS campus, which is an Aviation school, is where the Global Flyer left from and returned to. It's definitely a pretty neat story, and it's been kind of cool to see Kansas in the news so much lately. :)

03 Mar 2005 | Darrel said...

Isn't the whole point of flying out of Kansas the excitement of knowing you're going to land somewhere OTHER than Kansas?

03 Mar 2005 | Ken said...

Personally I just don't see the point. I think it reeks of smug self-indulgence, to be honest. What has Fossett truly accomplished?

A (much wiser) friend once said, specifically in reference to the similar Dame Ellen solo boating trip:

"Nothing is gained by doing this, unlike space exploration, or medicine, or the other things that are very hard or useful. This is an act of pure selfish self fulfillment; nothing wrong with that, but it has no meaning, no resonance, no suffering, no revelations, no uniqueness, offers no insights into the human condition, save to re-affirm the bottomless well of egocentric selfishness sludge from which idiots like this drink day and night.

There is someone that I know that has gone to Sri Lanka (trip planned before the Tsunami) 'to help children who live between the railway lines.' She read about this opportunity in The Guardian. She will be out there for three weeks, and the whole package costs 1000, half of which is spent on the airfare.

This is another example of me me me behaviour. That 500 pounds airfare could be spent on just about anything else other than making a Londoner feel good about herself - the same spirit that drove that person to sail without physical help for her own glory is the same one that makes people waste hundreds of pounds in airfairs to 'help' people in other countries when there are people right here in the UK who cant even read and write english. Better to send the 500 to Sri Lanka where there are people already in place engaged in doing good works, and then spend the other half on train fares to the places in the UK where someone educated can make a difference in her own back yard."

03 Mar 2005 | Ken said...

A (much wiser) friend once said, specifically in reference to the similar Dame Ellen solo boating trip:

Just for the sake of clarification, I mean much wiser than I. Not present company, of course! :P

03 Mar 2005 | Jeff Croft said...

Darrell...

Funny. Rude, but funny. :)

03 Mar 2005 | Dan said...

Wasn't there an episode of Friends that dealt with the notion that every good deed is inherently selfish?

I agree with you, Ken, that this flight is completely pointless. It was a big deal when Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic, because it showed that travel to other parts of the world that didn't take forever was possible. But what does this prove?

And I understand the point your friend tries to make about the woman traveling to Sri Lanka to help tsumani victims, but I have to disagree. The tsunami that struck Asia was a disaster of mythical proportions, one that makes 9/11 (dare I say) pale in comparison. And when you consider the alarming amounts of donated money that get stolen every year, I don't exactly blame her for wanting to help with her own two hands.

But I really think the argument falls apart right here: "Better to send the 500 to Sri Lanka where there are people already in place engaged in doing good works..." I doubt they're all from Sri Lanka.

03 Mar 2005 | JF said...

But what does this prove?

It proves that it can be done. That's significant. A man with a vision (and resources) took a risk that no one had taken before him. That's significant.

03 Mar 2005 | Ian said...

There are far worse ways to waste money. Hopefully the technology used to achieve this trip can be extrapolated and used.

03 Mar 2005 | Fred, the real Fred said...

Jason, I totally agree with. That plane had to be pretty damn efficient. That alone is worth the cost.

03 Mar 2005 | pb said...

Count me in the group that feels the energy could be better spent.

03 Mar 2005 | Randy said...

Count me in the group that feels the energy could be better spent.

So can your energy. You spend yours your way, let him spend his his way. What the hell is it with people these days shitting on other people's dreams? This guy wanted to do this. He risked his life and his money to do it. Good for him. We should all do what we want to as much as this guy does what he wants to do.

03 Mar 2005 | Dan said...

What the hell is it with people these days shitting on other people's dreams?

It isn't so much that I'm "shitting on his dream," I just find the whole thing a little ostentatious. The amount of press this guy is getting leaves a sour taste in my mouth as well.

It proves that it can be done. That's significant.

It just seems to me that the only thing proven by this is that rich people continue to find absurd ways to waste money. Frankly, the balloon ride was more impressive anyway.

04 Mar 2005 | Arne Gleason said...

Wasn't there an episode of Friends

Friends posed the question Are not the goals of all intentional actions really self-serving? ? Well, regardless of where you heard it, it seems true. But its best not to believe it so as not to lose that good feeling you get when youre being magnanimous.

As far as shaming rich folks for the opulent things they do with their money it can be irksome to watch when you feel youd have better ideas for the money, but quite frankly, Im happy to see the affluent spend as much as fast as possible on anything that doesnt hurt too many others too much (well, doesnt hurt me or the people that make me happy).

04 Mar 2005 | Ken said...

A much better way to waste some money.

04 Mar 2005 | Don Schenck said...

People who DO can't be bothered by the critics. That's always the way it's been.

Besides, the good karma alone will produce results that you have no idea about.

04 Mar 2005 | Ida Dunhim said...

I have always noticed that PB is always shitting on other people's accomplishments/dreams. I would like to know what it is PB does that's better?

04 Mar 2005 | Darrel said...

This blog is odd in all the rich folk defenders. They're rich. They can take the criticism.

04 Mar 2005 | Arne Gleason said...

rich folk defenders.

And youre smart. You should be able to take the apologists in stride.

04 Mar 2005 | Tommy said...

Seems like a pretty neat and important feat to me. Seems like a pretty neat and important feat to me. Fossett flew a single engine plane around the world, 23,000 miles. I am sure part of his rationale was he is rich beyond belief, bored with stuff that might excite us, and he could.

But still, in 1986 he took a team more then nine days to do what he did in 67 hours. That is a lot of progress in under 20 years.

Plus for those that think this was just a personal stunt ... what would you do in your free time if you were worth billions? Play video games, lay on a beach, or go out and have some fun doing stuff no one has ever done before.

04 Mar 2005 | Don Schenck said...

Tommy: I'd golf, surf, golf some more, surf even more, smoke the best cigars, surf, golf, surf, surf and golf.

Then, I'd go surfing.

It is a cool feat, and not to be taken too lightly.

Darrel -- you sound jealous of the "haves". That's how it sound to me, anyhow *shrug*.

04 Mar 2005 | Darrel said...

Darrel -- you sound jealous of the "haves". That's how it sound to me, anyhow *shrug*.

*shrug*

04 Mar 2005 | Annoyed said...

I have always noticed that PB is always shitting on other people's accomplishments/dreams. I would like to know what it is PB does that's better?

pb works at PayPal, whichs explains why he enjoys fucking around with people's ideas.

04 Mar 2005 | Jay said...

Being a pilot and also being from Kansas I looked at it from a different angle that from the above comments seems much less Ayn Rand-ish.

An airplane designer showed that through his knowledge of aerodynamics he can make a plane fly around the world, a design so perfect they had to use a drag chute to get the plane to descend.

An engine manufacturer learned that they can make an engine so efficient and powerful that they can make this feasible; One engine, one tank of gas,
and they flew all the way around the world.

It's not just about the pilot's achievement, it's also about the people, the engineers, the process and the dream that this would even be possbile.

I guess I have too much faith in the human race.

05 Mar 2005 | Lau Taarnskov said...

AFAIK this is funded by private money, so they can do what they want with it.

If this was a government mission, let's say a billion dollar mars mission paid for by money taken by force (taxes), it would have been more appropriate to criticise.

I agree with Jay. And I think it is cool to see people from different parts of the world doing these things voluntarily and not because some politician wants to boost his popularity, ego or "the ego of the nation".

06 Mar 2005 | Oi said...

Aren't we having fun here?

07 Mar 2005 | Darrel said...

And I think it is cool to see people from different parts of the world doing these things voluntarily and not because some politician wants to boost his popularity, ego or "the ego of the nation".

The Aerospace industry is an ego thing?