Around the World in a Balloon
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Tue, 9 Sep 1997 23:27:50 -0700
I was reading my latest National Geographic and came across an
interesting article on the triple attempt last January to
circle the globe non-stop in a hot air balloon.
The first team was led by Richard Branson, the British
multimillionaire (think Virgin Air), in a two million dollar
high tech air ship, but they managed to cover 400 miles in 20
hours before descending. It seems that in their haste to
depart they forgot to unlock the fuel line couplings so that
when it came time to release a one-ton fuel tank, the tank
would dangle from the lines, failing to reduce the load.
Emergency measures bought a little time and a little distance,
but were inadequate to rescue the mission.
The second team, a 1.5 million dollar Swiss effort sponsored by
a watch company, left 5 days later, failed when a kerosene leak
(a $1.16 radiator hose clamp) in the pressurized cabin forced
them down after only 6 hours.
One day after the second team launch, the third balloon took off
from St. Louis. The Solo Spirit, piloted by Steve Fossett alone,
a stock options investor from Colorado, cost only $300,000.
Fossett failed to circle the world as planned, but he did cross
the Atlantic and became the first balloonist to cross Africa. He
set down in India when it was clear that he would not have enough
fuel to make it across the Pacific. By that time, he had set
distance records (10,360.61 miles) and duration records (6 days,
2 hours, 44 minutes). He had hoped to reuse his capsule for
another attempt next year, but the Smithsonian called to say
they would like to display it.
Fossett, age 52, has only been ballooning for four years, when he
decided he wanted to fly around the world. Among his other
interests, he has competed in the Iditarod, climbed the highest
mountains on six continents (two attempts on Everest have not
completed the set), swum the English Channel and the Dardanelles,
and set eight current world records in sailing.
Oh, and he is an Eagle Scout....
YiS,
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Scoutmaster, Mt. Diablo Silverado Council Jamboree Troop #637
** http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9637/ **
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
