World Record Altitude Attempt, flying to 70,000 ft

[Tim]

World Record Altitude Attempt
Dr. Vijaypat Singhania, an experienced aviator from India, will attempt to break the world altitude record for hot air balloons by flying to 70,000 feet.

Dr. Singhania

The launch is planned to take place from Mumbai, India. The Cameron-built hot air balloon is 1,600,000 cubic feet in size, and Singhania will ride in a pressurized gondola since the flight will take him to the fringe of space. This is one of the largest hot air balloons ever built.

The flight Director is Alan Noble from Cameron Balloons. Alan is providing updates from the flight control center. You can read his updates here www.hotairballooning.com/indianews.php.

Noble reports that weather looks perfect, and the most pressing issue at this time is insuring dependable ground to air communications.

As is the case with all record attempt flights, the team must overcome several obstacles. One of the most challenging is keeping the burner lit at such extreme altitudes where there is very little oxygen. This balloon will use 18 newly designed kerosene burners forming a circle with a diameter of more than two meters.

One of the most challenging part of the the flight will be the landing. The balloon will be so light at landing that it will actually be difficult to get the aircraft back on the ground. Singhania has practiced landing large balloons, but none anywhere near this size.

The current world altitude record was set in 1988 by Per Lindstrand when he launched from Plano, Texas to an altitude of 64,997 feet. That altitude must be beaten by at least 3%, or 66,947 feet, in order to claim a new record.

Aviation record flights are monitored and awarded by the F.A.I. (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale - http://www.fai.org). In addition to beating the current record by at least 3%, the pilot must fly his aircraft on his own, land with the balloon and capsule attached intact and survive for at least 24 hours after landing, because the FAI does not recognize or reward suicidal missions. World records are required to be planned and meticulously executed. The record also needs to be suitably verifiable by the FAI inspectors.

View Flight Updates direct from the flight control center
www.hotairballooning.com/indianews.php


A picture of the balloon:

Photo by Cameron Balloon UK

[kristof]

That balloon is huge! I wish him good luck ;D

Thanks for the info Tim.

[Tim]

News about these record:


Indian millionaire breaks hot air balloon record
November 26, 2005 - 4:50PM

Indian millionaire Vijaypat Singhania today broke the world record for the highest flight in a hot air balloon, reaching the fringes of space, his son claimed.



Singhania, 67, hit 21,000 metres a little more than two hours after taking off in his 40-tonne balloon, and has started his descent, his son Gautam said.
"We have the world record at 69,000 feet" (21,000 metres), said Gautam Singhania. "We're bringing him down now."
The previous world record was 19,811 metres, set by Sweden's Per Lindstrand in Plano, Texas, in June 1988.
Singhania lifted off from downtown Bombay at 6.45am (1215 AEDT) enclosed in a pressurised cabin suspended from the 50-metre-tall multicoloured balloon.
He had hoped to reach 21,336 metres, but one of the balloon's designers said he couldn't quite make it.
"He must have hit a pocket of cold air, so he decided to quit while ahead," said Colin Prescott.
The record could not be independently verified immediately.
A sealed altimeter, a GPS (global positioning system) unit and a barograph were installed inside the capsule to determine the balloon's height, Prescott said. On landing, the seals will be broken and the instruments submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for verification.
Singhania was expected to take two hours to get back to Earth, probably landing in Nashik, a town about 100 kilometres northeast of Bombay, depending on wind speed and direction.
Before taking off in downtown Bombay cheered by hundreds of residents and a marching band, Singhania said he expected to break the record.
"I'm very excited but very nervous and confident I'll make it," Singhania said.
Vedant Kumar, 7, watched the balloon's ascent through a pair of binoculars until it became a just speck in the sky.
"I wish I could follow him in a helicopter," he exclaimed, hopping from foot to foot with excitement. A helicopter was following the balloon to monitor wind direction for the landing.
The entire voyage was broadcast live on national television using cameras on board the helicopter, inside the balloon's cabin and on the ground.
The temperature outside the balloon was expected to fall as low as -93 degrees Celsius and oxygen was negligible. Before taking off, Singhania stressed the importance of the pressurised cabin, saying that if a person were exposed to such temperatures his "blood would boil."
A unit on the ground was monitoring oxygen levels and other life support systems inside the cabin.
The cabin also has a parachute, so if Singhania loses consciousness or any other high-altitude emergencies occur, the parachute will be automatically released and the cabin will drift to the ground, the second designer Andy Elson said.



Here are some pictures of the take off:

[Vonsmalhausen]

a job well done

[Fabke]

Very nice record ;D

This balloon looks really huge , thanks Tim for the reports