FAQ/Circumnavigation/en
Yes, Circumnavigation has been done many times throughout history. The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is often credited as being the first person to have circumnavigated the globe, but the reality of his journey is a bit more complicated. Magellan first set sail in September 1519 as part of an epic attempt to find a western route to the spice-rich East Indies in modern-day Indonesia.
While he successfully led his crew across the Atlantic, through a strait in southern South America and over the vast expanse of the Pacific, he was killed only halfway through the circuit in a skirmish with natives on the Philippine island of Mactan.
Magellan’s death meant that he personally failed to circle the world, but his expedition continued on without him. In September 1522, one of his ships arrived safely back in Spain having completed a successful circumnavigation.
If Magellan wasn’t the first person to circle the globe, then who was? The most obvious candidate is Juan Sebastian Elcano, a Basque mariner who took control of the expedition after Magellan’s death in 1521 and captained its lone surviving vessel, the “Victoria,” on its journey back to Spain. Elcano and his sailors stand as the first people to have successfully voyaged around the world as part of a single journey, but they might not be the first humans to have circumnavigated over the course of a lifetime.
1979
The Transglobe Expedition entered the history books by becoming the first (and still only) successful attempt to circumnavigate the globe via both poles. As the team members celebrate the journey’s 40th anniversary, crew member Anton Bowring relives the heroic, of less than straightforward attempts to bring it all together.
Unfortunately, they forgot to circumnavigate the "globe" via both poles. They visited a location in the north, went south, visited a location in the south, then went east. That was NOT circumnavigation.
2020
On August 10, 2020 - Robert DeLaurentis (aviator) was the first pilot and aircraft (Turbine Commander 900 "Citizen of the World" N29GA) to successfully fly using biofuels over the North and South poles. Initial departure from Gillespie Field, El Cahon, CA, was November 17, 2019, completed August 10, 2020 with a five-month delay due to Pandemic. Other first-time records include the longest distance flown in a twin or single engine turboprop—18.1 hours; first and fastest Polar circumnavigation in a twin or single engine turboprop; first testing for plastic microfibers across the globe including over the South and North poles.
Unfortunately, they claim this was a circumnavigation as well, but yet again they did not actually circumnavigate around the south pole. They visited a location in the south and turned around.
You can circumnavigate the same way on the flat earth as they can on the "globe". People who claimed to circumnavigate the globe actually went in a huge circle. If you travel east or west, you will eventually complete a circle.
In the flat earth model, the north pole is in the center, and as you travel east or west, your compass will slowly navigate you in a huge circle, just like it would do on the "globe" model. You would just keep the compass pointing north, while traveling east or west.