>>> Steve Fossett sets off on world record bid
by Derek Yeo


STEVE Fossett took off today at 12:22:09Z in his Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer on his attempt at a world record.

At 12:50:02Z, VAGF's position was longitude W79.31853, latitude N28.61771; heading: 72.7 degrees; speed: 240.00 knots and altitude: 19,253 feet.

Scaled Composites' Jon Karkow at the controls of Starship chase plane escorted Fossett out over the Atlantic.