65-year-old Fedor Konyukhov from Russia has set a world record in around the world balloon ride. The Russian adventurer reached Western Australia after an 11-day flight. He beat the previous world record of 13 days by Steve Fossett from the USA. The former achievement stayed intact for 14 years.
The new record set by the Russian adventurer is 11 days 11 hours.
Fosset was the only person who managed to fly around the globe in a balloon. Now there is another amazing achievement by another lover of adrenaline rush.
Konyukhov reached Western Australia in the afternoon of 23 July 2016. The traveller taken on his journey in the early hours of the morning on 12 July, as we reported earlier.
- Find out how Fedor Konyukhov started his journey.
However, reaching the point of start after the world tour by air was not the last task in front of the brave aviator. Landing the balloon has proven to be a challenge.
Family and friends were eagerly awaiting for him on the ground. Son Oscar said his father’s achievement was a miracle and the record was a bonus. The trip itself was “difficult to comprehend”, he said.
Initially it was expected that the flight would cover around 33,000 km. However, as balloons don’t fly straight, it did about 2,000 km more by the time Konyukhov had a chance to land.
The balloon landed at 4:30 pm Western Australian time.
Konyukhov managed to cross the line of start before he finished his trip. This is extremely difficult and has never been done before.
During the flight, his balloon was taken by wind towards Antarctica, putting the whole expedition and the aviator’s light in danger. However, he managed to get back and proceeded to complete his mission.
The sponsors of the trip, Russian company Morton, launched an Instagram challenge asking users to post photos of their jumps with tags #летимвместе (flying together) and #мортон (Morton). There are over 3000 photos posted on Instagram under the tag.
Even a Russian bride and a groom at a wedding are doing the jump to support the famous daredevil.
Photos: Screenshots
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OMG 11 days, Russians u beat record, good job