Sounds like some minor nose gear issues. Chase plane reports oil being discharged.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Hydro fluid out of the right rear?

What is up with all the military figures on the ground?

Are they landing at an AFB?

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Semantics

Hey Dave - Any idea of the current availability of Felt's F1X in the 49cm size? My wife may be looking at getting one...

Three green lights on gear. Down and locked.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

49cm shouldn't be a problem, where is your local dealer?

-SD

nixed the flyby, seems like there is some nervousness surrounding approach/landing/gear.

I think the "low fuel" concerns were publicity generators as his attempt had slipped below the front page on the news/websites.

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Haven't asked them about availability yet, just pricing on a few bikes. I was just doing a little web research a little bit ago and someone said that on the East Coast the wait was like almost 3 months for them...

Cleared to land on runway 17. Congratulations coming from other aircraft in the area. History in the making. This is huge. Beuatiful pictures- beautiful aricraft.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Doesn't the space shuttle go around the earth a couple hundred times without being refueled?

3 months may be the case on sizes not in stock, however a good shop working with a good rep will be able to find the bike for you. Let me know if you need help.

regards,
-SD

Congrats seem a little bit "cart before the horse" on this one. Suspect landing gear, brakes, and fluid leakage have been mentioned.

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Ok I know absolutely nothing about this except what I've read here.

If it is true that it was done 20 years ago with two people and the guy has an autopilot that allows him to take naps, why is this a big deal? Or is the afore mentioned items not true?

If the mentioned items are true then the engineering and design as well as flight path etc etc was already done. If the guy can sleep then it's really not huge feet of endurance, unpleasantly cramped but not a major deal.

I guess I certainly wouldn't liken this to feats like the Spirit of St Louis or anything even close if the above is true.

What am I missing?

~Matt

Some beautiful images of the sun on the white carbon fiber wings. Incredible. A gentle final approadh, the plane just lulling up and down onthe wind.

An incredible feat of endurance.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

It's absolutely true that it was done about 20 years ago...same plane designer in fact. One difference is that Voyager took something like 9 days because they were flying much slower, and at much lower altitude. Fossett was over 40,000 feet I think...

Agreed MJ...don't know what the big deal is....

"huge" is relative.

It doesn't change history or the industry, the way Lindbergh did.

I'm just happy for Tom.

What am I missing?

Nothing. It's a big circle jerk.

As for the engineering, Voyager was more impressive. (Remember the stories about the female half of that team cutting off her hair to save weight?)

Even if the guy couldn't sleep, it's not that big a deal. How long has it been? A little under seventy hours? That's not even three days, for crying out loud. Lots of people manage to stay awake longer than that, even without all the "impressive chemical feats" that have helped Fosset.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

He's late...does it count as a late arrival against Virgin Atlantic's on time record?

if it were east, it would have been done
and it just was....

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

My coverage just switched to Bush honoring the late Jackie Robinson...now that's huge!

if it were east, it would have been done

No, it would have been done if there was a freaking point to it. There isn't.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Wow..he did that all with a headache for the last 24 hours too. Talk about having the right stuff!!!

He's down. He's done it. On the very first attempt. ONe lap, no refueling the first time in history.

Fossett is taxing from the runway now. It was a beautiful landing.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

"An incredible feat of endurance."

Ok then....I guess I'll wait for the first "Human powered" non-stop flight around the globe. That would be HUGE.

Maybe I'm way off base here but from little I've seen here it doesn't look that that big of a deal. I'd say not nearly as impressive as the global balloon trip thingy.

~Matt