May 1999
The FédérationAéronautique Inter-
national has ratified seven world records
set byBertrandPiccardandBrianJones
duringtheirrecentarou nd-the-world
flight,March1-20.Three were absolute
records forfree balloons include: distance
40,814kilometers(25,366miles);dura-
tion19days21hours47minutes(477
hours47min utes);andshortesttime
around theWorld 15 days 10 hours and 24
minutes (370 hours 41 minutes).The other
four records were for AM-15 (mixed bal-
loonsabove 22,000cubicfeetincapac-
ity). Thoserecords include the three above
for subclassandaltitude recordfor sub-
class of 11,737 meters (38,507feet).
PiccardandJoneswerepresented
withtheBudweiserCupand$1million
prizeduringa ceremonyatthe National
Air andSpace MuseuminWashington,
D.C. onApril 7. The Air and Space Mu-
seum will displaythe capsule of the bal-
loonandpartofitsinflatableportion
beginningthisSeptember.BreitlingOr-
biter 3 will join other aviation treasures at
themuseum includingthe WrightFlyer,
Spirit of St. Louis, and Double Eagle II.
Half ofthe Budweiserprizewillbe
used to establish the Wings of Hope Foun-
dationtosupporthumanitarianprojects
aroundthe world, according toBreitling
USA President Marie Bodman.
TheFAIhasannouncedfirmplans
for “The GreatBalloonRace,” around-
the-worldracetargetedtostartinthe
winter of 2000/2001.
Theexactdeparturedateandtime
will be determined by world weather pat-
terns,particularly the positions and speeds
ofthehighlevelwindsknownas‘jet
streams.’ The balloons will take off in the
northern hemisphereat a launch site yet to
be confirmed. Butindications of interest
have already beenreceivedfromvenues
in North America, Southern Europe, North
Africa,the Gulf andalsoChina. Allare
under active consideration.
Ad etaileds tudylastingseveral
monthshasconcludedthattherace,al-
thoughhighlychallengingintechnical
andlogisticalterms,isentirelyfeasible.
fiveandtenballoonsareex-
pected to take part in the first race, which
willthentake place at intervals of about
four years.
TheFAIBallooning Commission has
appointed an advisory committee to draw
up detailedrulesfortheRace,including
rigorous safety procedures. Thebasic con-
ceptisthatthewinnerwillbethefirst
balloon to circumnavigate the globe,cross-
ingthe same meridian as the launch site,
without approaching too close to the Poles.
Atarget landing place may be declared. In
theevent that nocontestantcompletesa
fullcircumnavigation,theballoonthat
flies the furthest will win. The winner will
receive a handsome trophy.
The event willbe opentoappropri-
ately licensed and experienced crews from
any FAI member country, flying balloons
ofanymanufacturethatarecapableof
flyingroundtheworld.Becauseofthe
limitednumberofplacesavailableand
thepotentialhazardsinvolved,theFAI
reserves the right to select and reject par-
ticipants, onthe basis of criteria that will
be published.
Several potential competitors, includ-
ingwomen, havealreadyindicatedtheir
interest in taking part in the Great Balloon
Race. A detailed “Notice of Race” giving
full particulars is being prepared and will
be circulated to suitably qualified persons
who notify FAI of their interest in partici-
pating. Such persons are invitedtowrite
toFAIwitharequestforpreliminary
registration.Theaddressis:Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale,Avenue Mon
Repos24, CH-1005Lausanne,Switzer-
land, e-mail:balloonrace@fai.org.
Further details will be published, as
they becomeavailable, on the FAI’s Great
Ball oo nRacewebp ageath ttp :/ /
www.fai.org/GreatBalloonRace/and will
be circulated to those whose preliminary
registrationhas beenaccepted.
InothernewstheFAI hasawarded
thesanctionforthe 15thWorldHot Air
BalloonChampionshipto France for the
year 2002. This is a change from the odd
year date of the championship.
The Coupe Gordon Bennett for 1999
awardedtotheUnitedStates.The
event will be held in conjunction with the
KodakAlbuquerqueInternationalBal-
loonFiesta. Datesfor the event are Sep-
tember 30 toOctober 9, 1999.
TheMontgolfier DiplomaforCon-
tributiontotheSportwasawardedto
Josef Starkbaumof Austria.
The Cityof Mitchell,SouthDakota
will operate the Soukup & Thomas Inter-
nationalBalloon&AirshipMuseumfor
thesummer1999seasonreportsJ.P.
Skelly,NewsDirector,KORNradioin
Mitchell.Skelly,also a balloon crew mem-
ber,tellsBalloon Life that a big show of
supportwillbe neededtohelpkeepthe
doors of the museum open.
Themuseum will be operated by Corn
Palace Concessions and the manager has
statedthathewillbeabletodetermine
whether the museum will be profitable by
mid-July. If not, the City will likely close
thefacilityanddecide where the collec-
tion owned by the museum will go. Either
tothenew balloonmuseumplannedfor
AlbuquerqueortheSmithsonian.Many
ofthe artifacts on display are on loan from
theSmithsonianandindividualsinclud-
ing Don Piccard. Theitems on loan would
bereturnedtotheirrespectiveowners
shouldthe museumbe closed.
The Chamber of Commerce and the
CityofMitchellareresponsiblefor the
operatingexpensesofthemuseum.A
numberofcostcuttingmeasureshave
been enacted to bring down the operating
cost.OneincludesspinningtheSpecial
Shapeballoonfleetofftoanewnon-
profit organization.
The Soukup & Thomas museum has
an excellent collection of lighter-than-air
memorabilia.If youare travelingacross
SouthDakotathissummerstopinand
visit, you won’t be disappointed. The mu-
seumwashighlightedinaBalloon Life
Special Report on balloon museums in the
January 1998issue.
The annual Corn PalaceBalloon Rally
hasmovedits datestoSeptember 11-12
this year.
