NO LONE EAGLE HE :

Tycoon completes global balloon trip (Rob Griffith, July 2, 2002, AP)

American adventurer Steve Fossett drifted into aviation history Tuesday, becoming the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world. [...]

As an official fax from Fossett's capsule rolled into his mission control at Washington University in St. Louis, applause broke out and team members finally exchanged hugs.

Mission control put the time of his crossing the finish line at about 9:38-9:39 a.m. EDT.

Fossett has spent the past two weeks in a capsule seven feet long, 5 1/2 feet wide and 5 1/2 feet tall, living on military-like rations and using oxygen cylinders. His toilet is a bucket.

The NPR reporter actually introduced this story by saying that (the quote may not be precise) : Like Charles Lindbergh, aviation pioneer Steve Fossett has ties to St. Louis. Only then did he go on to mention that Fossett faxed news of his crossing, talked over his satellite phone to his "mission control", and spent the two weeks in a capsule. All of which make the comparison outrageous.

Mr. Lindbergh doesn't have much of a reputation left to besmirch, which is a crime. Try reading his own book or A. Scott Berg's terrific biography or, when you go the video store to stock up for the weekend, grab Billy Wilder & Jimmy Stewart's excellent : The Spirit of St. Louis. Mr. Fossett hardly deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 2, 2002 6:57 PM