Last Saturday sixteen gas balloons lifted off from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico for the start of the 66th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett. Also known as the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Long Distance Gas Balloon Championship, this competition (which dates back to 1906) has one simple goal – see who can pilot their balloon the greatest distance before landing.
The balloons are limited to 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) of hydrogen gas which is filled entirely before liftoff, no extra gas is carried onboard. Packed into the nearly 13 square foot basket is everything the two pilots need to remain aloft for as long as four days – food, drink, clothes for a variety of weather, a cot for sleeping, a bucket for use as a toilet, cameras, communication and navigation equipment, oxygen for when they climb above 10,000 feet, and sand and water for ballast.
Typically the balloons fly higher during the day (up to 14,000 feet) because the sun warms the gas which casues it to expand and increase lift. At night the gas cools and the balloon descends to just a few hundred feet above the ground. The balloons are steered entirely by the direction of the wind. The pilots can change direction by climbing or descending to find a different wind current. To do this they release a small amount of gas to descend or dump small amounts of sand/water overboard to climb. The release of these consumables needs to be closely monitored in order to cover the greatest distance.
The Competitor Flight Paths
This was a multinational competition with teams from Austria, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the USA. Everyone had a different idea on what altitudes and wind currents would take them the greatest distance.
The Winner
Today at 12:59pm EDT a team from France (Eric Decellières and Benoit Havret) landed in Jacksonville NC after 85 hours and 49 minutes aloft. During that time they traveled 1653.72 miles to win the competition.
Tuesday evening between 6:30pm and 7:00pm this balloon passed over Lanett AL and the northwest corner of Harris county.
Second Place
A team from Germany (Wilhelm and Benjamin Eimers, father and son) landed near Wilmington NC after 85 hours and 19 minutes aloft. They traveled 1607.62 miles.
Between 6:54pm and 8:05pm on Tuesday this balloon passed over southern Harris county.
This was the balloon I decided to chase in order to capture some photos and video. My three intercept points are shown on the map and correspond to the segments of the video (the last two segments are from location 3).
This was the view of the balloon driving north on Highway 27.