The balloon of the adventurer Steve Fossett. PHOTO - REUTERS
SANTIAGO, Chile Reuters - Millionaire balloonist Steve Fossett was nearly forced to abandon his round-the-world record bid when his balloon went into a series of sudden climbs and dives, mission control said. The 58-year-old former Chicago stockbroker, on his sixth attempt to make the first nonstop solo balloon trip around the world, was caught in what mission control director Joe Ritchie described as a „yo-yo phenomenon.“ Fossett‘s Spirit of Freedom balloon suddenly dipped in altitude, possibly as a result of a downdraft. This caused the autopilot to compensate for the fall with a full blast of the burners, sending the balloon dangerously high to its ceiling. At that point it cooled rapidly and began to dive at high speed, which again meant the burners were turned on at full strength, repeating the cycle. After about three hours, Fossett was able to stabilize the balloon and continue on his way.
He was forced however to deviate from his planned route toward Chile, missing the jet stream he hoped to catch. „Knowing he had missed the jet stream to the north, he assumed he had blown the flight,“ Ritchie said. Mission control said that while Fossett would have to fly more slowly for a while, he would eventually catch a more favorable jet stream. He has traveled 13,465 km since lifting off from western Australia a week ago. The next phase of his trip will take him over Chile and South America.
The rugged sportsman, cramped in a closet-sized capsule slung beneath the balloon, survives on military-style rations. Rival balloonist, British tycoon Richard Branson, called mission control to wish Fossett good luck. The two men teamed up in a failed 1998 round-the-world bid. Fossett has tried to circle the world in a balloon five times before and has set records for solo flight duration and distance.
On a 1998 solo trip, he nearly died when he plummeted into the Coral Sea off Australia. In his last bid in August 2001, fierce winds over the Andean peaks gave him such a roller coaster ride that he prepared to bail out in a parachute. He then drove straight into lightning storms in Argentina before coming to a bumpy touchdown in Brazil, suffering only bruises and scrapes. An extreme sport fan, Fossett has swum the English Channel, competed in Alaska‘s Iditarod dog sled race and set numerous sailing records. If he makes it to the Atlantic Coast of South America this time, he will continue over vast expanses of ocean until reaching his starting point in Australia, having covered a total of 17,000 miles (28,000 km). Fossett is in for a brief respite from solitude over Chile in a planned in-flight rendezvous with a chase plane, weather permitting. The plane, like his world record bid, is sponsored by brewer Anheuser-Busch Co. Reuters
