Head Balloons
Head Balloons, Inc., Helen, Georgia, announced that it has received a
Supplemental Type Certificate, number SB01048AT, from the Federal Aviation
Administration. The STC approves the use of Thunder & Colt baskets and burners with
all of Head Balloon envelopes.
Head was the first manufacturer to STC the use of other manufacturer's baskets and burners with their envelopes. Head now has STCs to allow the use of Adams, Aerostar (Raven), The Balloon Works, Cameron, and now Thunder & Colt baskets and burners, with the Head envelope.
For more information contact Head Balloons, PO Box 28, Helen, GA 30545 or call 1-800-HEAD BALLOONS. Outside the U.S. call (706) 865-3874. e-mail: headballoons@juno.com.
Rescue by Balloon
November 13 turned out to be a lucky day for an Arizona man. The vehicle he
was driving had been involved in a wreck the day before in a remote area. He was
seriously injured and trapped in the vehicle. On the afternoon of the 13th a local
Phoenix, Arizona balloon company, Get Carried Away, flew over the wreck
while on a passenger flight.
Not knowing whether anyone was in the vehicle the pilot contacted the crew who checked out the accident. They discovered the injured man and contacted emergency personnel.
Get Carried Away is the same balloon company that had a fatal accident April 15 in which two people died (Preflight May).
Around-the-World Update
Steve Fossett and his Solo Challenger team are awaiting variable
weather conditions in St. Louis, Missouri. Once the team meteorologist gives the go
ahead Fossett plans to inflate and fly out of Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis.
Fossett's new Cameron R210 (210,000 cubic foot) balloon was delivered in mid- November to St. Louis.
Richard Branson, Per Lindstrand, and Rory McCarthy with the Virgin Global Challenger team have once again positioned their equipment in Marrakech, Morocco. In November several test flights were conducted near Reno, Nevada.
On November 9 Marsha Neal, Chuck Foster, and Koh Murai launched a 77,000 cubic foot balloon to conduct test for the Virgin team. Due to a leak in the balloon's fabric the flight was cut short and landed five hours later.
Foster explained that the team wanted to land before they found themselves in the mountains at midnight. Still, the team was able to gather several hours of data that will be beneficial.
It was originally believed that any further testing would have to be accomplished using a 22,000 cubic foot balloon. However, after a number of consultations, including Ed Yost, it was determined that the leak could be repaired with duct tape. The use of duct tape would cut the leakage to an acceptable level and allow remaining tests to be conducted.
On November 25 Per Lindstrand launched on a high altitude test flight during which he surpassed Steve Fossett's recent record setting test flight. Lindstrand reach 35,000 feet. Equipment Lindstrand tested was shipped to Morocco immediately after the flight. The Lindstrand team expects to be ready in Morocco on December 1.
Following Lindstrand's altitude flight, Dick Rutan, AEOLUS I, planned to fly the same balloon on a 24-hour test flight to gather additional data.
The Breitling Orbiter around-the-world balloon envelope has been completed at the Cameron factory in Bristol, England and was air inflated in an old airship hangar in Cardington, Bedfordshire. The Roziere 450,000 cubic foot balloon is less than half the size of the Virgin Global Challenger but is still designed to cruise at 35,000 feet. The Breitling Orbiter will have a crew of two, Wim Verstraeten and Bertrand Piccard. They won the Chrysler Challenger race across the Atlantic Ocean in 1992.
The Breitling Orbiter is initially scheduled to be shipped to Lausanne, Switzerland where it will be officially welcomed by Juan Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee. The balloon is backed by the Olympic movement, will carry the Olympic symbol, and the IOC is officially requesting all member countries to ensure safe passage for this peaceful sporting endeavor.
The Breitling Orbiter will be moved to its launch site at Chateau d'Oex after the ceremony and is expected to be ready for launch by the end of November. The Breitling Orbiter's gondola is made of Kevlar and carbon fiber.
Both the Solo Challenger and Breitling Orbiter >envelopes' construction are described by Cameron as third generation Roziere. The envelopes have a separate second skin of reflective Mylar-a much tougher Mylar than was used in Steve Fossett's balloon earlier this year. The air gap between the Mylar and the gas cell is designed to act like double glazing, while solar powered fans in the envelope's hot air cone and top tent provide cooling air conditioning to the gas cell during daylight hours.
Below are Internet connections that you can use to follow the aeronauts around the
world:
Solo Challenger (Steve Fossett) http://www.luc.edu/solo
Virgin Global Challenger (Branson, Lindstrand, McCarthy) http://www.challenger.iclnet.co.uk
Dymocks Booksellers Odyssey (Martin, Bradley, Wallington) http://viva.com/odyssey/
AEOLUS I (Dick Rutan) http://www.iag.net/~aeolus1/
Web sites that have news updates and links to various teams:
PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/no
va/balloon
Garfield Kennedy Co http://www.gkco.co.uk/balloon-central.html