Editing Circumnavigation (section)

==Aviation==

In 1922 [[Norman Macmillan (RAF officer)]], Major [[W T Blake]] and [[Geoffrey Malins]] made an unsuccessful attempt to fly a ''Daily News''-sponsored round-the-world flight.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fairey Aircraft since 1915 |last= Taylor |first=H. A. |year=1974 |publisher=Putnam Publishing |location=London |isbn=0-370-00065-X |pages=87–89 }}</ref> The first aerial circumnavigation of the planet was flown in 1924 by aviators of the [[U.S. Army Air Service]] in a quartet of [[Douglas World Cruiser]] biplanes. The first non-stop aerial circumnavigation of the planet was flown in 1949 by [[Lucky Lady II]], a [[United States Air Force]] [[Boeing B-50 Superfortress]].

Since the development of commercial aviation, there are regular routes that circle the globe, such as [[Pan American World Airways|Pan American]] Flight One (and later [[United Airlines]] Flight One). Today planning such a trip through commercial flight connections is simple.

The first [[Aerostat|lighter-than-air]] aircraft of any type to circumnavigate under its own power was the [[rigid airship]] [[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'']], which did so in 1929.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fritzsche |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTBsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA179 |title=A Nation of Fliers: German Aviation and the Popular Imagination |date=1992 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-60122-2 |language=en}}</ref>

Aviation records take account of the wind circulation patterns of the world; in particular the [[jet stream]]s, which circulate in the northern and southern hemispheres without crossing the equator. There is therefore no requirement to cross the equator, or to pass through two antipodal points, in the course of setting a round-the-world aviation record.

For powered aviation, the course of a round-the-world record must start and finish at the same point and cross all meridians; the course must be at least {{convert|36770|km|nmi}} long (which is approximately the length of the [[Tropic of Cancer]]). The course must include set control points at latitudes outside the [[Arctic Circle|Arctic]] and [[Antarctic Circle|Antarctic]] circles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fai.org/downloads/gac/SC2 |title=FAI Sporting Code Section 2: Powered Aerodynes: Speed around the world non-stop and non-refuelled |publisher=[[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]] |format=PDF |date=January 2016 |access-date=2 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211204923/http://www.fai.org/downloads/gac/SC2 |archive-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In ballooning, which is at the mercy of the winds, the requirements are even more relaxed. The course must cross all meridians, and must include a set of checkpoints which are all outside of two circles, chosen by the pilot, having radii of {{convert|3335.85|km|mi}} and enclosing the poles (though not necessarily centred on them).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fai.org/documents/sportingcode/sc1 |title=FAI Sporting Code Section&nbsp;1: Aerostats: Around-the-World Records |publisher=Fai.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927142340/http://www.fai.org/documents/sportingcode/sc1 |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}</ref> For example, [[Steve Fossett]]'s global circumnavigation by balloon was entirely contained within the southern hemisphere.<ref name=":0" />