Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502230013
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
A stockbroker flew his balloon into Canada on Tuesday, becoming the first person to successfully fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.
Steve Fossett, 50, also broke the distance record of 5,208 nautical miles, according to his flight crew.
``He's very laid-back about it,'' flight manager Alan Noble said. ``When he crossed the coast, he said, `I've flown the Pacific. I'm over Canada.' No `Whoopee!' or anything like that.''
Fossett likely was a little too cold and tired for elation.
Soon after he took off from Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, the two propane heaters in the balloon's gondola failed. Fossett pressed on, enduring temperatures between 4 degrees below zero and 10 degrees with only a sleeping bag to keep him warm in the cramped gondola. He had to keep his drinking water close to his body to thaw it.
Throughout the trip, Fossett could sleep for only three hours at a time because he had to check his position, said the flight's U.S. project manager, Timothy Kemper.
``He's tired, he wants to come home,'' said David Slavsky, a Loyola University astronomer and spokesman for the expedition.
The 2.7-ton rig includes a 150-foot-high helium balloon attached to a gondola that is 6 feet 6 inches long, 4 feet 6 inches wide, and 5 feet tall. Fossett paid $250,000 to Cameron Balloons of Bristol, England, for the rig and tracking support.
He originally planned to land in San Francisco, but the balloon is largely at the mercy of winds. Control over the craft's direction is limited to moving it up and down into different layers of the jet stream.
He crossed the Pacific coastline over Canada at about 11:30 a.m. EST and was likely to land in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan or in Montana this morning, said Noble, flight manager for Cameron Balloons.
by CNB