View Full Version : World record in a regular balloon
Charles Darwin
26th Nov 2005, 09:45
Vijaypat Singhania just set a world record in a regular balloon and got up to 69.000 feet. Held that altitude for two hours.
Congratulations!:D
B Fraser
26th Nov 2005, 10:06
Mucho Respecto !!!!!!!
Have you got a web link as the burners must have been a very special design. I have only managed 11 grand and the flame was getting rather fat and close to the envelope :uhoh:
Try here!!
New record!! (http://inhome.rediff.com/sports/2005/nov/26sing.htm)
Great effort and certainly put Indian aviating on the map.
cwatters
26th Nov 2005, 12:51
Several Photos...
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/625_0019000100173929,0.htm
MerchantVenturer
26th Nov 2005, 17:07
Well done indeed. Marvellous effort and this gentleman is even older than me. Makes me feel not completely obsolete.
The UK can also claim a bit of credit. The balloon was made by Cameron Balloons of Bristol who, according to the BBC West News today, also built the balloons that currently hold the records for longest flight in time terms and furthest distance flown.
DaveW
26th Nov 2005, 17:30
Other British involvement is that Mr Singhania's technical team was led by Colin Prescot and Andy Elso, who amongst other things were/are the team involved in the QinetiQ1 absolute balloon altitude attempt (http://www.qinetiq1.com/index-nosuccess.html).
Mr Singhania's ballon is also registered in the UK: G-VPSI (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?categoryid=60&pagetype=65&applicationid=1&mode=detailnosummary&fullregmark=G-VPSI)
B Fraser
27th Nov 2005, 09:03
Blimey ! The envelope was 1.6 million cubic feet. To put that into perspective, a normal sports balloon is 80 or 90 thousand cubic feet and a big commercial ride balloon is 300 thousand cubic feet.
Well done also to Cameron Balloons :ok: They also made Breitling Orbiter 3 which did the first circumnavigation with Bertrand Picard and Brian Jones. (I had the very real pleasure of meeting Brian and he comes across as an ordinary guy. I sat through some 90 minutes of commentary on the flight and I was spell-bound.)
is Vijaypat Singhania planning to visit the UK at some point ?