Salina, Kan., Feb. 25, 2006, At 4:45 p.m.
(CST) today, the record-setting Virgin Atlantic
GlobalFlyer safely landed upon returning home to the
Salina Municipal Airport from Bournemouth
International Airport after establishing two world-
class aviation records in less than a year.
Bournemouth, in southern England, was the
emergency landing site for Steve Fossett's nonstop
unrefueled distance record in the GlobalFlyer of more
than 26,000 miles. In 2005 he set an around the
world record in the GlobalFlyer taking off and landing
at the Salina Municipal Airport, which was also the
site of Virgin Atlantic's Mission Control for the
pioneering flight.
"We welcome Steve Fossett and the GlobalFlyer back
to its SLN homebase," said Tim Rogers, A.A.E., the
Salina Airport Authority's executive director. "The
Salina Airport is already well-known as America's Fuel
Stop and now we are proud to say that SLN is Home
to the GlobalFlyer," Rogers said.
"We are pleased that Salina's involvement in the
GlobalFlyer project clearly demonstrates our global
capabilities to the international aerospace
community," Rogers continued.
The GlobalFlyer, flown from Bournemouth to Salina by
Scaled Composite's Project Engineer Jon Karkow, was
processed upon arrival by the U.S. Customs Service
as an international flight.
K-State at Salina students and faculty assisted the
GlobalFlyer team with the repositioning flight and
aircraft recovery. Nancy Milleret and Patrick
Rinearson, seniors in professional pilot at K-State,
provided mission control support to Karkow during his
flight from England back to Salina.
Evan Beckman, aviation mainenance instructor, and
several K-State aviation maintenance students, are
assisting Scaled composites with recovery work on
the Globalflyer following the landing this afternoon at
Salina.
In addition to Steve Fossett and the Virgin Atlantic
GlobalFlyer, the Salina Municipal Airport (SLN) is
home base for numerous aviation businesses and
operations.
These include: Aerospace Systems and Technologies,
Inc., America Jet at SLN, EagleMed air ambulance,
Flower Aviation, Kansas Army National Guard Aviation
Support Facility, Kansas Highway Patrol Aviation,
Kansas State University at Salina, Kansas Wing
Headquarters - Civil Air Patrol, Professional Flight
Training, LC, Raytheon Aircraft Company-Salina
Division, Salina Aircraft Services, and Wells Aircraft
Co.
Corporate flight departments at SLN include:
ADM Milling Company, Blue Beacon International,
Bradley Trucking Co., Geoprobe Systems, Pepsi Cola-
Salina, Plains Environmental and Premier Pneumatics,
Inc.
The SLN Aviation Service Center has available hangar
space and room for growth to accommodate a wide
array of aviation related industries. The SLN Air
Traffic Control Tower logs more than 86,000 annual
aircraft operations. Two FBOs annually deliver over 4
million gallons of aviation fuel to the aircraft using
the Salina Municipal Airport, including more than
7,000 business jet quick turns. For more information
regarding expansion opportunities at "The SLN
Aviation Service Center," contact 785.827.3914 or
visit the available properties link at
www.salinaairport.com
