Construction
The GlobalFlyer is the first jet aircraft designed for an uninterrupted circumnavigation of the globe. Unusual for modern aircraft, the GlobalFlyer has just a single jet engine.
Physically, the GlobalFlyer aircraft somewhat resembles an enlarged, slender WWII airplane, the P-38, with twin tail booms mounted outboard of a smaller, central nacelle. The pressurized cockpit is mounted on the leading edge of the center pod and provides seven feet of space in which the pilot sits. Unlike the P-38, or similar twin-tail designs, the solitary turbofan engine is mounted atop the manned central fuselage, several feet behind the cockpit, like the Fieseler Fi 103. The outboard tail booms instead contain fuel, and end in control surfaces which are not cross-connected.
The aircraft is constructed of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy, the main structural member being a slender single spar 114 foot (35 m) wing. The wings are made of sturdy composite materials with the skin of the aircraft being a graphite/epoxy and Aramid honeycomb. The use of lightweight materials permits the fuel (in thirteen tanks) to comprise 83% of the take-off weight.
The aircraft had an estimated lift to drag ratio (L/D) of 37. The aerodynamic drag is so low that, even with the engine idling, the aircraft can only descend at a maximum of 700 feet per minute (3.6 m/s). Drogue parachutes were used to slow the GlobalFlyer to landing speeds.
The Voyager aircraft suffered from design flaws that made it warp in shape very easily, so the GlobalFlyer is designed to have greater stiffness. A single jet engine design was chosen for the GlobalFlyer for increased reliability over propeller engines and faster circumnavigation for the solo pilot.
The GlobalFlyer is designed to operate at high altitudes where the air is colder, yet fuel heaters were not included in its design. There was some concern that the fuel might freeze if the aircraft was to use standard jet fuel. Therefore, the GlobalFlyer's Williams International FJ44-3 ATW turbofan (which normally takes Jet-A fuel), was re-calibrated to burn a fuel with a substantially lower freezing point: JP-4 fuel.
Read more about this topic: Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
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