BALLOONISTS HOPE TO GO WITH THE FLOW; JET STREAM NEEDED TO MAKE RECORD FLIGHT.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer With the weather finally cooperating and their strongest competitor grounded in Russia, aviation record-setter Dick Rutan Richard Glenn “Dick” Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is an aviator who piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop with the assistance of Jeana Yeager. He was born in Loma Linda, California, where he gained an interest in flight at a young age. and veteran balloonist Dave Melton planned to launch early this morning on their quest to become the first to circle the globe nonstop in a balloon. Barring any last-minute setbacks, Rutan and Melton were to launch their Global Hilton balloon between midnight and 4 a.m. today from Albuquerque, N.M., heading east in the 200-mph winds of the jet stream on what they hope is a nine- to 14-day trip around the Earth. ``The weather could not be better,'' Rutan, who became famous for the globe-circling flight of the Voyager aircraft in 1986, said Monday by telephone from Albuquerque. ``I have a lot of butterflies. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong.'' But the Global Hilton team members say they are confident in the flying skills of Rutan and Melton, veteran of two other round-the-world attempts, and in their engineering of the balloon and its high-tech capsule - a hermetically-sealed sphere equipped with satellite communication and navigation gear. ``We have a lot of good people working on this,'' Rutan said. ``Hopefully the weather will smile on us.'' Rutan, a 59-year-old former Air Force test pilot and Vietnam combat veteran from Mojave, made aviation history in December 1986 when he and co-pilot Jeana Yeager became the first to complete a nonstop, unrefueled round-the-world flight. Taking off and landing at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. , the spindly spin·dly adj. spin·dli·er, spin·dli·est Slender and elongated, especially in a way that suggests weakness. spindly Adjective [-dlier, -dliest unconventional Voyager was built by Rutan's brother, Burt, at his Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled), formerly the Rutan Aircraft Factory, is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States and is headed by aircraft designer Burt Rutan. Inc. plant in Mojave, where the balloon capsule also was fabricated. Melton, 39, of Los Alamos Los Alamos (lôs ăl`əmōs', lŏs), uninc. town (1990 pop. 11,455), seat of Los Alamos co., N central N.Mex. It is on a long mesa extending from the Jemez Mts. The U.S. , N.M., has about 10 years of balloon flying experience, including serving on two previous round-the-world bids. Both those attempts fell victim to equipment failures. If the Global Hilton team succeeds it will grab one of the last aviation firsts still left to be claimed - called by the National Geographic Society National Geographic Society U.S. scientific society founded in 1888 in Washington, D.C., by a small group of eminent explorers and scientists “for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge. ``the last great aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau prize of the century.'' Their $1 million effort is being financed by Barron Hilton William Barron Hilton I (born October 23, 1927) is an American heir and co-chairman of the Hilton Hotel chain and paternal grandfather of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton. Biography , his Hilton Hotels
The Global Hilton launch is coming just hours after balloon distance record-holder Steve Fossett's fourth round-the-world effort ended at the edge of the Black Sea in Russia. Fossett, a Colorado securities broker, launched Wednesday from St. Louis and had traveled 7,300 miles before bad weather and a faulty heater forced him to land. In a January 1997 attempt, he made it to India before he ran out of fuel. Two other round-the-world bids ended in failure last month. British millionaire Richard Branson's balloon took off without him in Morocco, wrecking itself in the North African North Africa A region of northern Africa generally considered to include the modern-day countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. North African adj. & n. Adj. 1. desert. Balloonist Kevin Uliassi left Wednesday from Illinois, but a burst helium container ended his trip the first day. During Global Hilton's approximately 24,000-mile flight, the two men will live inside a 8-foot-diameter capsule insulated with five inches of foam to protect them from outside temperatures of 55 degrees below zero. The capsule is fitted with a pilot station and private sleeping quarters, a radar altimeter A type of absolute altimeter which measures vertical distance to the surface below using radar technology. See also absolute altimeter. and a satellite recovery beacon. The Mylar balloon envelope, fabricated in England, will be lifted by helium during the day. At night, when helium cools, propane burners will be used to keep the balloon aloft. A version of this story appears in Main News. CAPTION(S): Photo, box, map PHOTO (color) Balloonists Dick Rutan, left, and Dave Melton stand in front of their Global Hilton crew capsule in Albuquerque, N.M., on Monday. Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal Box: Up up and away Research and graphic by Bradford Mar/Daily News SOURCE: Global Hilton, National Geographic, World Book Map: The route |
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