Tony Fairbanks

Ballooning lost another one of its pioneer's, Anthony Mead Fairbanks passed away in mid-October at the age of 92. He had spend the last 67 year's of his life involved with gas and hot air balloons. His first gas flight took place in 1931. In 1932 he was a founding member of the Cleveland Balloon Club. He earned a fixed wing rating in 1932, a glider license in 1934, and was issued a balloon license in 1938. In 1936 he placed second in the National Gas Balloon Race held in Denver, Colorado.

Fairbanks and Milford Vanik were scheduled to compete in the 1939 Gordon Bennett. The event was set for September 3.

"I have discussed the matter of your participation in this year's Gordon Bennett Balloon Race with several officers of the War Department and it was their personal opinion that in view of the unsettled conditions in Europe, that a balloon team from the U.S. should not venture to Poland this year." Charles S. Logsdon, Assistant Secretary, N.A.A. Contest Board in an August 4, 1939 Airmail - Special Delivery letter to Mr. A. M. Fairbanks of the Curtis Airplane Company, Buffalo, NY. World War II started on September 1, 1939 when Germany bombed Poland.

Some memorable quotes:

"Every chance I get!" Response at age 86 when asked how often he flies.

"Let me know if a balloon needs a pilot or a chase crew needs a map reader. I'm ready" November 1997, Age 90.

Information supplied by Dick Powell from the Balloon Club of America archives.

Great Balloon Race

The Fédération Aéronautique International has announced plans for the Great Balloon Race for New Millennium. The idea for this race stems from another series this winter of attempts to be the first to circumnavigate the globe by balloon.

According to the Ballooning Commission's press release, "once the feat has been achieved, pilots will be seeking a new challenge for their sport. The Commission is studying the feasibility of a regular round the world balloon race to be know as `The Great Balloon Race.'

"Consultations will take place between our ballooning commission and pilots, manufacturers, sponsors and broadcasters," says Max Bishop, secretary general of the FAI. "We have teamed up with the international PR consultancy Fleishman-Hillard to assess the potential for the event and are all very motivated by the idea. It would probably take place every four years and we would anticipate a magnificent trophy and a substantial cash prize for the winner."

Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the Breitling Orbiter and grandson of Auguste Piccard who was famed for his inventions including the stratospheric balloon and pressurized cabin, says "Naturally I want to make the first circumnavigation but a race round the world, once we see that it is feasible, fills me with tremendous excitement, and I would be the first to sign up. It would be a nice way to carry forward the story of round-the-world adventure."

Don Cameron a leading manufacturer of balloons responded enthusiastically to the news, too: "The great balloon race could become to balloonists what the Whitbread is to yachtsmen. It would certainly be a magnificent spectacle."

World Records

The FAI has received the a world altitude record claim of 6,553 meters for lighter-than-air gas/pressurized envelope, AS-4. Currently there is no existing record for AS-4 and AS-5. The flight was made by John Ninomiya flying a homebuilt cluster of 72 latex balloons.

Current record in AS-6 to AS-15 is 5,415 meter set by Julian Nott and S. Andersen in the United Kingdom November 22, 1984.

There is currently a challenge to the latex balloons being consider as pressurized.

The FAI has ratified the AX-8 altitude record of 15,011 meters set by Josef Starkbaum, Austria. Starkbaum's flight took place in Austria on July 21, 1998 and surpassed his previous record of 13,670 meters.

Balloon Plantable Ornaments

How about decorating with a balloon gift that grows. A new product offered by Okina/OE, Inc., Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a plantable balloon ornament.

The ornaments are all handmade with recycled bio-degradable fibers embedded with flower seeds and petals. They are sold in gift packages of three ornaments with a custom gift card tied to the bag using gold string. They could also be packaged with a single ornament to reduce the price for promotional use. After the Holidays, or any special occasion, the ornaments can be planted in the garden to produce beautiful flowers. A gift that continues to give after the special occasion is over.

For more information on the recyclable balloon ornament or any of the Okina/OE's other seed cards contact Okina/OE, Inc., 821 W San Mateo Rd, Ste D, Santa Fe, NM 87505, phone 505-962-7966.

Balloon Works Seminar

The Balloon Works will be holding its 26th annual Repair and Maintenance Seminar for Continuing Airworthiness on February 18 and 19, 1999 in Statesville, North Carolina. This is a free seminar for certified repairmen and repairmen-in-training and FAA and NTSB inspectors. This is a hands-on seminar covering System Design and Placement of Identification on Components, Aircraft Maintenance Responsibilities, FAA Regulations Governing Certified Repair Stations, General discussion of topics regarding CRS Responsibilities, Aircraft Certification Issuing new Standard Airworthiness Certificates, 8130.2C Issuing of Standard Airworthiness Certificates, Recommended equipment for repair of FireFly Balloons, Acceptable Damage of Components with Demonstration, Fabric sticky-back patch, Annual Inspection Procedure Discussion and related topics.

Registration is limited to 25 repairmen and 25 FAA and NTSB inspectors. For more information or to register, call Allison at The Balloon Works 704-878-9501, Fax 704-878-9505, or email: firefly@abts.net.

ICO Global Challenge

ICO Global Communications and the Virgin Global Balloon Project have teamed up for Richard Branson, Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand's 1998 attempt to circumnavigate the globe by balloon.

ICO will be the main sponsor of the project that will be called the ICO Global Challenge, and the balloon's call sign will be ICO Global. In addition ICO's logo will be prominently displayed on both the balloon and the manned capsule.

The Control Center for this year's attempt at circumnavigating the globe will be the ICO Satellite Control Center in Uxbridge, England. The new Control Center, developed and built to control ICO's fleet of communications satellites beginning next year, is a state-of-the-art communications and satellite control facility ideal for tracking the progress of the ICO Global balloon around the world.

The center will also be the main facility from which any search and rescue operations will be managed in the event that the balloon must land before completing a full circumnavigation of the world.

The value of the ICO sponsorship package upon completion of a successful global flight will be in excess of $5 million. The package consists of staged payments at the achievement of milestones throughout both the launch phase and flight itself.

The Virgin team will continue to manage the project and, as part of the sponsorship package, Virgin will retain its distinctive logo, underneath ICO's, on both the balloon and the capsule.

"When ICO approached us to sponsor this year's balloon flight, I was intrigued," said balloonist Richard Branson, the founder of U.K.-based Virgin. "It was the first truly entrepreneurial sponsorship offer I have ever had put to me.

"There is a financial incentive for our success, and the prospect of teaming up with one of the most innovative telecomm companies in the world, which will be launching pocket-sized satellite mobile phones in the year 2000. Per, Steve and myself have all had our lives saved by satellite communications and telecommunications technology, so we more than almost anyone else can appreciate innovation in this area.

"We have done an enormous amount of work on our balloon and capsule technology since last year and Steve Fossett has given valuable input into our balloon development program since the summer," Branson said.

The launch pad for the ICO Global Challenge is in Marrakech, Morocco, and the team will depart for Marrakech later this month in order to be ready for a launch window that opens in late November and continues through January.

Testing of a replica of the balloon, which will use an envelope made of 3 tons of a high-tenacity fabric coated with a polyurethane compound, is occurring in Reno, Nevada, under the direction of American balloonist Steve Fossett.

ICO Chief Executive Officer Olof Lundberg said: "We are delighted to join with the Virgin Team in this exciting project. We are an excellent match. We all understand the value of pushing the envelope: in balloon travel, telephone technology and in global business."

The public will be able to track progress of the balloon flight on a special Internet web site being created by ICO. Linked first to the ICO web site and then launched as a separate site on Nov. 24, the ICO Global Challenge site will feature the people, technology and updates of the adventure. The balloon is expected to fly over the U.S. during the last third of the two- to three-week trip.

ICO Global Communications was established in January 1995 to provide global mobile personal communications services by satellite, including digital voice, data, fax and messaging services. In 1997, ICO located its North American headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Visit ICO Global on the Internet at http://www.ico.com/.

World Quest

Dick Rutan and David Melton are almost back in the saddle again. Rutan has been regrouping and looking for sponsors since the ill-fated flight of the Global Hilton earlier in the year.

Barron Hilton has once again indicated his support for Rutan's effort. This time Hilton will be supplying the last 25 percent of the money needed for the project. Rutan will need to raise the first 75 percent before Hilton's money kicks in.

Based on this early sponsor support, Rutan and Melton have announced a new attempt to circumnavigate the earth in a balloon in a project known as World Quest. They have elected to fly in the Southern Hemisphere, and are designing a superpressure balloon system. Instead of using the single cell lifting envelope, World Quest will utilize four super-pressure cells. Even in the event of a cell rupture the World Quest Project can continue to fly using the three remaining cells.

"We have already completed fabrication of our pressurized crew capsule, and are extremely pleased that Barron Hilton also believes in our new approach," Rutan told Balloon Life. "We are looking to complete our funding by the first of the year so we can take off from [Santiago], Chile around July of 1999."

"We learned a great deal about our life-support and lift systems during our development of the Global Hilton," Melton said. "We now have experience on our side, and rather than buy a system off the shelf, we will design a balloon of our own which we feel can do the job."

World Quest is headquartered at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center near Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. Rutan and Melton can be reached at PO Box 964, Mojave, CA 93502, phone 805-824-1021, fax 805-824-1035. You can also visit their web site at http://www.transglobalballoon.com/.

Hot Air Over the Holy Land

A new balloon event has been announced in Israel. The event will take place between December 25, 1999 and January 5, 2000. A spectacular Balloon Ralley will be over Nazareth and other once in a life time "log book" flights such as duch and bash in the Sea of Galilee and more. For more information contact Michal Abrams by e-mail: michal-a@sivan.co.il.

Fatal Balloon Accident

October 5 a 250,000 cubic feet balloon owned and operated by Wayfinder Balloon Rides contacted powerlines in Albuquerque, New Mexico killing one person and injuring 12 others, some seriously. The accident during the Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, but the balloon was not registered in or part of the event. The red and yellow balloon split apart when it hit the powerline. The gondola broke free and plunged approximately 18 feet to the ground.

The Fiesta had been launching balloons on this, the first day of competition before suspending the competition because of wind conditions.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident and will make a determination of probably cause.