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Round-The-World Balloon Flights
The end of an adventure. Cable & Wireless down in the pacific.
Between 1996 and 2002 there was a surge of interest in becoming the first team to fly non-stop around the world in a balloon. The convergence of improved weather forecasting techniques, GPS navigation, satellite communications and improved balloon performance led sponsors and teams to believe that the ultimate prize of long-distance balloon flight was within their grasp. Andy was at the heart of many of the challenges, building capsules and burner systems for Steve Fossett, the Breitling Orbiter and his own global project, the Cable & Wireless Balloon, He also supplied burner systems for the global attempts by Kevin Uliassi, and Dick Rutan Steve FossettAndy and his team built all three of Steve Fossett’s capsules and burner systems for his solo global balloon flights. Steve finally became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world in 2002. In addition to being the first solo round the world balloon flight, the extraordinary flight of Bud Light Spirit Of Freedom also surpassed several of Steve’s own records, establishing new marks for the longest ever solo flights for both distance and duration not just by balloon, but by any solo aircraft. Breitling OrbiterBreitling 1, 1997. - Pilots Wim Verstraeten and Bertrand Piccard approached Andy Elson to work with Cameron Balloons to design and build a Rozier balloon and pressurised capsule, complete with life support and burner/fuel systems for a non-stop around the world flight. A ruptured fuel bag forced the pilots to ditch in the Mediterranean just a few hours after launch. Breitling 2 1998. – Bertrand Piccard and Wim Verstraeten asked Andy not only to build the balloon but also to fly with them. The flight from Chateau d’Oex in Switzerland lasted a record-breaking 9 days 17 hours 55 minutes, and landed in Myanmar (formerly Burma). The flight set a new duration record for a flight by any aircraft within the Earth’s atmosphere Cable & WirelessIn 1999 Andy Elson teamed up with Colin Prescot of Flying Pictures to make another attempt to be the first to fly non-stop around the world by balloon. The pair launched from Almeria in Spain in February 1999 and broke Andy’s previous duration record of 9 days, almost doubling it with a flight of 17 days 17 hours. Having successfully flown around China, bad weather forced the pair to ditch in the Pacific. The full story of Andy and Colin's flight can be read in Colin's autobiography "To the Edge of Space"
Steve Fossett's "Bud Light Spirit Of Freedom" balloon.Links
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