Balloonists delay attempt at new records

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Unfavorable winds over the Pacific Ocean have forced two veteran pilots trying to break a pair of records to delay the launch of their helium-filled balloon.

Albuquerque pilot Troy Bradley and colleague Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia had planned to lift off from Saga, Japan. While flying conditions were just about perfect between Japan and Hawaii, forecasts called for deteriorating weather after that, which could hamper the record attempt and put the pilots in danger.

“There’s a lot of pressure sometimes, but we can’t let pressure compromise safety,” Steven Stope, director of the team’s mission control center based at the international balloon museum in Albuquerque, said Thursday.

Part of the problem is the forecast winds are too slow and threaten to push the balloon too far north, which would mean the pilots would be in the capsule longer than expected.

Stope said Bradley and Tiukhtyaev were tired after having worked nonstop the past couple of days to get everything ready for the flight.

“In a way, I think this is a blessing in disguise that they’re able to get some sleep tonight and make some fresh decisions in the morning,” Stope said.

The pilots are aiming for the shores of North America, an attempt that will put them on course to break a distance record of 5,208 miles that has stood for more than three decades.

They’re also looking to break the flight-duration record set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. That record of 137 hours in the air in a traditional gas balloon is considered the “holy grail” of ballooning achievements.

Bradley and Tiukhtyaev’s balloon – dubbed Two Eagles – will fly at an altitude of at least 15,000 feet. The pilots will have oxygen masks.