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THE GREAT NON-STOP AROUND THE WORLD BALLOON RACE
Chapter Nineteen - August 23, 2001 Steve Fossett has accomplished everything he has set out to do except fly non-stop around the world in a balloon. He has tried, unsuccessfully, 5 times as a solo and once as a team member. He's not only stubborn, he's committed. His wife has asked him to forget it, but he is bound and determined to do it. He has set new world records boating and flying in fixed-wing aircraft but the ballooning crown has escaped him. So he tried again. Alone, in an open gondola. This time the balloon was bigger with six burners instead of four. The liftoff point was to be in Northwest Australia where the meteorologist wasn't called on to predict weather in the worst thunderstorm area in the world two weeks in advance. First thing that happened was that a freak gust of wind caught and tore the balloon during inflation at Kalgoorlie. Everyone thought it was all over but a team headed by Andy Elson, who had designed the balloon checked every seam and repaired it on the spot. Finally a decision was made to move the liftoff site from Kalgoorlie some 65 miles to Northam where it was felt launch conditions might be better. On August 4th Steve lifted off from near Northam Airport with the hope of returning to land in the outback about 15 days later. He didn't make it. After an agonizingly slow trip across the South Pacific he was first buffeted by the winds on the land side of the Andes which took the balloon up and down at 500 feet per second and then he flew straight into a wicked nest of thunderstorms. The SLOW trip across the Pacific had used up most of his oxygen so he didn't have the ability to fly over them and even if he did the winds aloft would have taken him in the wrong direction. They were too numerous to be able to dodge them all. A trip through the area was inviting serious, probably fatal disaster. He had to land near Bage, Brazil. The landing itself was rough. Strong surface winds dragged the balloon and its capsule for a mile or more before Steve could successfully deflate it and bring it to a halt. He admits to a few bruises but is OK now and back home in Arizona, disappointed but safe. While Steve was waiting for a liftoff opportunity he flew his private Citation X jet across the Australian Continent with 2 of Australia's top pilots, Alex Tai and Shaun Regan as guides and backup to set a new speed record for the crossing of 3 hours, eight minutes and 43 seconds. His average speed was 704.57 MPH. A couple of days later, while still waiting for favorable balloon liftoff weather he again took his private jet from Perth to Hobart, Tasmania in 2 hours 28 minutes and 46 seconds to set another new record of 755.99 MPH. The Breitling Orbiter 3 with Piccard and Jones won Budweiser's million bucks, the trophy, and the honor and glory of being first. They had almost unlimited resources and a multi-million dollar team backing them. There's was a team effort in a controlled atmosphere gondola. They had the backing of an entire nation's (Switzerland's) meteorologists. They faced all the dangers and overcame them, but they were a team - not solo. Steve and Kevin had, and still have, a burning desire to do it alone, in an open capsule. Steve has the money and the resources, Kevin Uliassi doesn't. So when the weather around the globe was just right Fossett lifted off. Not from the little gold mining town in the Western Australian desert called Kalgoorlie which was his original intent, but rather from Northam about 65 miles away which was a frequent.tourist balloon launch site. Kilgoorlie had failed to give the team even one good day of launch conditions. Steve lifted off at 6:06 AM (Australian time) August 4th, 2001. He had immediate problems By crawling out of the capsule he was able to reposition an antenna and he substituted a lap top for a balky computer. He lost direct communication with his Mission Control at Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) for almost 5 days. He was aloft for 12 days and 12 hours marking the longest solo balloon trip ever flown by anyone before he was forced to land. He was doing his best to be the first solo non-stop circumnavigator. Now Kevin Uliassi may rob him of that prize. Check back with us for a daily report when Kevin gets off the ground, probably in late November or December of 2001. Check his website for details. Maybe someone else may try it also. Write with your questions, flames, and comments. |