olasek
Pattern Altitude
I could not find any confirmation that this flight indeed took place but I suspect it didn't due to 9/11.
South African Airways announced that it will operate a specially chartered Boeing 747-400 that will fly around the world over both the North and South Poles. This flight will commence on November 17, 2001, and will attempt to break the old record of 54 hours, 7 minutes, 12 seconds set on October 28-30, 1977 by 2 hours and 56 minutes.
``POLAR BYRD II'' will fly from New York's JFK International Airport to Rio Gallegos, Argentina; then continue over the South Pole to Perth, Australia; then continue on to Beijing, China; then over Russian airspace en route to the North Pole; then back to JFK. General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF (Ret.), who was the APOLLO X and APOLLO-SOYUZ mission commander, will host the 237-passenger flight. General Stafford holds the all-time world air speed record for circumnavigating the Earth in a spacecraft -- APOLLO X -- at 24,791.4 miles per hour. ``Polar Byrd II'' is named after Admiral Richard Byrd, the first man to fly over the South Pole in 1929.
This flight is now open for booking. First Class accommodations include full sleeper-beds and tickets will cost 14,495 USD. Business Class seats will be sold at 9,495 USD and Economy Class at 7,495 USD. All Economy Class passengers will have an empty adjacent seat for extra room. South African Airways, acting as Reservations Agent for Concorde Spirit Tours, will book the non-refundable seats.
South African Airways announced that it will operate a specially chartered Boeing 747-400 that will fly around the world over both the North and South Poles. This flight will commence on November 17, 2001, and will attempt to break the old record of 54 hours, 7 minutes, 12 seconds set on October 28-30, 1977 by 2 hours and 56 minutes.
``POLAR BYRD II'' will fly from New York's JFK International Airport to Rio Gallegos, Argentina; then continue over the South Pole to Perth, Australia; then continue on to Beijing, China; then over Russian airspace en route to the North Pole; then back to JFK. General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF (Ret.), who was the APOLLO X and APOLLO-SOYUZ mission commander, will host the 237-passenger flight. General Stafford holds the all-time world air speed record for circumnavigating the Earth in a spacecraft -- APOLLO X -- at 24,791.4 miles per hour. ``Polar Byrd II'' is named after Admiral Richard Byrd, the first man to fly over the South Pole in 1929.
This flight is now open for booking. First Class accommodations include full sleeper-beds and tickets will cost 14,495 USD. Business Class seats will be sold at 9,495 USD and Economy Class at 7,495 USD. All Economy Class passengers will have an empty adjacent seat for extra room. South African Airways, acting as Reservations Agent for Concorde Spirit Tours, will book the non-refundable seats.