65 day endurance record for continuous flight in a Cessna

[Phil Bunch]

See this set of web pages for the details:

http://65days.wordpress.com/the-gist/

I had never heard of this, but apparently there is a long-running series of record breakers attempting to hold the world record for the longest continuous (no landing) flight in a single-engine Cessna.

Basically, they refuel from a small fuel truck on the ground, synchronizing their speed and grabbing a fuel hose every 12 hours or so.  Hard to believe one could do this regardless of weather and wind.

Also hard to imagine trying to live in a Cessna cabin 24x7 for 65 days nonstop.  I think I would get tired of the noise, lack of sanitary facilities, entertainment, and everything else I enjoy each day!  Perhaps it's no worse than being thrown into solitary confinement in a prison...

Sort of like doing world flight for 65 days while the two-man crew must live entirely in the cockpit of one of the big sims (insert many grins here).

[frumpy]

are they serious about the fuel grabbing?
well, dont loose the cap ;-) i guess the fueler
will be sprayed by avgas every third try?

i dont know either how much fun it can be to live
65 days in a cessna. 65 days, thats 15 times
a 100 hour check. what a nonsense.

perhaps this is all a conspiracy by the government,
in reality this is a prestudy of nasa to fly to mars ;-)

still, i appreciate the idea of changing thoughts
towards other people and trying something new.
i wonder how serious they are about that?

[John Davis PC]

I think I would get tired of the noise, lack of sanitary facilities, entertainment, and everything else I enjoy each day! Perhaps it's no worse than being thrown into solitary confinement in a prison...

... Sounds like Worldflight

[Phil Bunch]

Below is a link to more info on world records for flight endurance.  I thought the info about replumbing the Cessna to allow for in-flight oil changes in the engine was interesting.  Still, 65 days without stop seems a bit risky and outside of the rules for legal aviation.  Not sure how people get around whatever laws there are about not following recommended maintenance schedules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_endurance_record  

and also, possibly worth reading is this web page -

http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AvWebInsider_Record172_201943-1.html

Wikipedia seems to know everything, as long as the topic isn't controversial or political in nature.  I still have trouble trusting it for anything serious, preferring traditional media.  Yet traditional media are hardly error-free or totally objective!  So, I just keep using wikipedia, being cautious about taking it as authoritative.