MEN TO TRY BALLOON VOYAGE A 2ND TIME.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Test pilot Dick Rutan is raising money to finance a second attempt at capturing what has been dubbed the century's last great aeronautical prize - circling the globe nonstop in a balloon.

Rutan says he and co-pilot Dave Melton plan to launch next July from Santiago, Chile, flying a different type of balloon on a different route at higher altitudes than in their abortive attempt this year.

The pair's first attempt, on Jan. 9 from Albuquerque, ended two hours after launch when the hot air-and-helium balloon ruptured. Rutan and Melton parachuted to safety in a New Mexico cow pasture studded with cactus, but Melton suffered a broken hip and twisted knee when he landed.

``Nothing worthwhile to accomplish is without risk,'' said Rutan, who made aviation history in 1986 when he and Jeana Yeager piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world without refueling.

Rutan estimates the cost of the adventure at $1 million and says he has raised $400,000. Millionaire flight enthusiast Barron Hilton of Hilton Hotels is pledging to cover 25 percent of the mission costs. Hilton was a major sponsor of the 1998 flight.

This time, Rutan plans to balloon a different route - through the southern hemisphere - and at higher altitudes, 35,000 to 38,000 feet compared to the 30,000- to 35,000-feet range he had planned for the first attempt.

At the higher altitude, the jet stream winds are more predictable and direct in their flow from west to east, Rutan said.

``You want to be at a high altitude to avoid weather,'' Rutan said. ``You need to be in the stratosphere to make a successful balloon flight in my opinion.''

Other attempts by balloonists to circle the globe have ended either from problems with the balloons or from poor weather. The most recent attempt, in August by Chicago commodities broker Steve Fossett, ended when a thunderstorm sucked his balloon down into the ocean 500 miles east of Australia.

The balloon for Melton and Rutan's second attempt will be different from their first try. That one used both helium and propane-powered burners, which heated the helium at night to maintain its lift.

The new balloon instead will use four ``super-pressure'' helium cells to carry their capsule aloft.

During the day, the helium will expand with the sun's warmth. But a ``strength'' envelope - the balloon bag - will contain it at the same volume both day and night. No nighttime heating from propane burners will be needed.

Unmanned super-pressure balloons have been used for atmospheric research. One such balloon stayed aloft for 714 days.

If one of the cells ruptures, as happened on their first attempt, the new balloon will be able to continue on, Rutan said.

If all goes well, Rutan and Melton will spend nine to 14 days inside an 8-foot diameter carbon-fiber capsule. The capsule is insulated with 5 inches of foam and fitted with a pilot station and private sleeping quarters, satellite communications and navigation systems, a radar altimeter and a satellite recovery beacon.

``We'll go from Chile to Cape Town (South Africa) to Tahiti to Santiago,'' Rutan said. ``It's all over water.''

The ultimate destination, however, might be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and a spot alongside Voyager.

On his Web site, www.transglobalballoon.com, Rutan notes that aviation records can be broken, but aviation firsts are forever.

``There are very few aviation milestones remaining that might be deemed worthy of recognition in addition to those vehicles already in the National Air and Space Museum collection,'' Rutan wrote.

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PHOTO (Color) (Ran in AV Edition only) RUTAN