Balloon circumnavigation of globe - Konyukhov Fedor Filippovich
Reported in the "West Australian" newspaper 20:13 AWST
A Russian balloonist looks set to smash the world circumnavigation record set by the late Steve Fossett 14 years ago.
He will even slow down so he doesn’t arrive back in WA at night.
Depending on wind conditions, Konyukhov Fedor Filippovich, 64, is expected to land somewhere between where he left - Northam 95km north-east of Perth - and Kalgoorlie on Saturday morning.
That would mean he will have flown his hot air balloon around the world non-stop in 11 days, breaking Mr Fossett’s 2002 record of 33,000km in 13 days and eight hours.
Mr Konyukhov’s son Oscar said the adventurer had covered more than 30,000km by mid-afternoon Friday and would have to ease off on his current speed of 220km/h so he could safely land after sunrise.