The B&N Bank hot air balloon is flying through the night

14 March 2015

After 12 hours in the air Fedor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyalo, brought the hot air balloon down to one meter off the ground to converse with their ground support team. The flight has been going according to a plan and there are no surprises except for the much warmer temperature than was anticipated.  During the day the air temperature would reach 6C, which required a higher amount of fuel to keep the altitude.

As night approaches, the air temperature will drop which should help with keeping fuel usage under control. Both pilots were optimistic that twelve gallons of fuel would last them through the night.

Landing in dark is not the safest way to finish the flight. The pilots will do their best to keep the fuel ration until sunrise on Sunday, March 15th.  Finishing at dawn will also signify 24 hours in the air, which is enough to beat the previous record by a Russian team in 2013, but not quite long enough for the world record which stands at 29 hours, 14 minutes and 35 seconds.  

The hot air balloon of B&N BANK continues to fly south-east-south, towards Kineshma City. The altitude is 276 meters and the speed is 18-20 km/hr.

The support team keeps the night watch monitoring the flight and following the balloon by driving in the same direction as the flight. The team uses a snowmobile to collect the empty canisters of fuel dropped by the pilots.  It’s going to be a sleepless night for both pilots and their support team, but everyone runs high on adrenaline and caffeine to see the night through.

Sponsor of the record attempt – B&N Bank.

You can follow the flight by this link:   https://share.delorme.com/ivanmenyaylo

Oscar Konyukhov

Translated by Tatiana Koreski

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