PART A

A Page in History
On March 1, 1999, the ​Breitling Orbiter 3 ​launched from Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland. The
balloon circled the globe at speeds of up to 120 mph and at a maximum altitude of 38,500 feet.
The balloon landed in the desert near Mut, Egypt on March 20. The successful flight was
Piccard’s third attempt at an around-the-world flight.

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The high-tech ​Breitling Orbiter 3 ​was manufactured by Cameron Balloon, Ltd., of Bristol,
England.

Breitling Orbiter 3

Type: ​Rozière​ (helium and hot air)

Gondola
Size: 15 ft long, 7 ft diameter
Construction: Pressurized; Kevlar and carbon fiber
Weight: 4,409 pounds

Envelope
Size: 150 ft high
Volume: 650,000 cubic feet
Material: Nylon fabric welded to a helium-tight membrane, covered with an outer protective skin
coated with aluminum on both sides to provide improved thermal control.

Crew
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones

The gondola’s power needs were met by 20 solar panels suspended below the gondola. The
array looked much like a Venetian blind.

Breitling orbiter 3
First manned balloon around the world nonstop

March 1-March 20, 1999

25,361 miles, 477 hours, 47 minutes

Bertrand Piccard
“To stop is the certain way to fail.”
Physician, humanitarian, and adventurer, Pilot Bertrand Piccard was Captain of the world flight.
His scholarly interest in human adaptation to extreme environments served his crew well during
the flight. Piccard is the grandson of the 1930s stratospheric explorer Auguste Piccard.

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Piccard and Jones display their ​Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ​certificates for their
world-record flight. In addition to being the first successful around the world flight, they also set
world records for absolute distance and duration.

Brian Jones
“We took off as pilots, we flew as friends, and we landed as brothers.”

An RAF pilot from Bristol, England, Brian Jones had 1,200 flight hours in a balloon before
co-piloting the ​Breitling Orbiter 3. ​Jones was originally the flight’s backup pilot. He was
responsible for incorporating the latest technology into the craft’s gondola.

Spirit of Freedom

Type: ​Rozière ​(helium and hot air)

Gondola
Size: 7 ft long, 5.5 ft wide, 5.5 ft high
Construction: Kevlar and carbon composite
Weight at Takeoff: 19,000 lbs

Size: 108 ft diameter

Volume: 572,000 cubic feet of helium, 100,000 cubic feet hot air
Material: Nylon fabric welded to a helium-tight membrane, covered with an outer protective skin
coated with aluminum on both sides to provide improved thermal control.

Crew
Steve Fossett

Fossett’s distance: 20,262 miles; time: 355 hours, 50 minutes. This was the shortest time
around the world.

PART B

Spirit of Freedom: A Rozière Balloon

The ​Rozière ​balloon originated in France more than 200 years ago. Cameron Balloons of Bristol
England has refined the design, making it the choice of long distance balloonists. Heat from the
burners warms the helium at night, thus avoiding helium contraction and loss of lift. This is more
efficient than traditional sand ballasting.
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The ​Spirit of Freedom​ is a ​Rozière ​balloon that consists of a helium-filled gas cell with an outer
hot air envelope. A burner located on the gondola heats air which is conveyed up and around
the gas cell.

Solo around the world

Steve Fossett made five unsuccessful solo attempts to circumnavigate the globe, surviving one
of the most harrowing experiences in ballooning history, falling 29,000 feet into the Coral Sea.
Number six was his triumph in the ​Spirit of Freedom. ​He began in Northham, Western Australia
on June 19, 2002, and landed July 4, 2002, at lake Yamma Yamma, Queensland, Australia.

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On an early global attempt, Fossett’s ​Solo Spirit ​departs St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.

Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett, on flying in an unpressurized cabin:
“It’s like the mountain climbers who scale Everest without oxygen. A big danger is sleeping. You
might take your mask off or get a kink in the nose. You wake up gasping. Or you might not wake
up at all.”

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FLIGHT Around the world

Flying around the world in a balloon is an adventure and challenge that has inspired many
pilots. The first modern global attempt was in 1981 with Maxie Anderson and Don Ida’s Jules
Verne, a conventional gas balloon. Around the same time, British balloon pioneer Don Cameron
was tinkering with the idea of a hybrid, or roziere, balloon. Cameron-built gas/hot air hybrids
which were ultimately employed by the successful around-the-world flights, the Breitling Orbiter
3 in 1999 and the Spirit of Freedom in 2002.

Around-the-world ballooning is a complex enterprise. It uses specially designed balloons that

are ​over​ ten stories tall, high-tech gondolas for the crew and flight equipment, and numerous
experts on the ground at mission control. These daunting expeditions have fueled the
imagination of everyone who follows their flights.

This map represents just a few of the many attempts made to circumnavigate the globe. Some
expeditions, such as the Earthwinds Hilton and the Virgin Global Challenger had superior pilots
and balloons, but never had the combinations of good weather, luck, or equipment in good
repair to get off the ground for long.

JULES VERNE (US)

Maxie Anderson, Captain
Don Ida, Crewman

November 1, 1981-November 3, 1981

Luxor, Egypt to Hansa, India
2,676 miles
48 hours

This was the first of three attempts for the Jules Verne project.

BUD LIGHT SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (US)

Steve Fossett, solo

June 19, 2002-July 3, 2002

Northam, West Australia to Blue Hills, Queensland, Australia
20,251 miles
350 hours

After five previous attempts, this was Fossett’s first successful circumnavigation.

J RENEE (US)
Kevin Uliassi, solo

February 22-March, 2000

Rockford, Illinois to Nyaaunga, Myanmar
12,710 miles
234 hours, 28 minutes

Uliassi was forced into an emergency landing when the top gas cell of the J Renee burst.

CABLE AND WIRELESS (UK)

Andy Elson, Captain
Colin Prescott, Crewman

February 17-March 7, 1999

Almeira , Spain to near Tokyo, Japan
8,953 miles
425 hours 41 minutes

The Cable and Wireless was forced to ditch in the ocean off the coast of Japan. Held the world
record for two weeks.

ICO GLOBAL (Sweden, US, UK)

Per Lindstrand joined by Steve Fossett and Richard Branson
December 18-December 25, 1998
Marrakech, Morocco to near Honolulu, Hawaii
12,404 miles
178 hours

This flight was hampered by trajectory problems.

Other Notable Attempts

Earthwinds Hilton
Between 1990 and 1994 the varied pilots and crew of the Earthwinds Hilton made nine attempts
at a round-the-world flight. None passed distances of more than 70 miles. Skilled pilots of this
effort included Larry Newman, Richard Abruzzo, David Melton, Vladimir Dzhanibelov, Kerry
Bartlett, and George Saad.

Virgin Global Challenger

The Virgin Global Challenger was an equally frustrated round-the-world effort, from its proposal
in 1990 to its last failed attempts in 1998. Capable pilots included were Richard Branson, Per
Lindstrand, and Rory McCarthy. Numerous aborted attempts and crew conflicts prevented the
project’s success.