Features / world record
Bristol-made balloon makes final preparations for World Record attempt
Russian survivalist, voyager, and aerial and marine explorer Fedor Konyukhov will be attempting to break an altitude record in the world’s largest hot air balloon, made by Cameron Balloons in Bedminster. The adventurer says he is keen to break more world records with the help of the best and most experienced engineers in the business.
The balloon was partly inflated with cold air in the Brabazon Hangars at Filton Airfield on Tuesday, November 18 for a final check-up and to install internal bracing. When the balloon is fully inflated it will stand 65 meters tall and contain over 99,000 cubic meters of hot air, making it by far the largest hot air balloon in the world.
The team plans to have the balloon fully tested outdoors once the weather improves, before sending it to Australia for further testing at the end of January.
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Cameron Balloons’ director and company secretary, Hannah Cameron, said: “We’re very fortunate to have an amazing team of engineers and production staff. Cameron Balloons are the only people in the world who could build something of this scale. Hopefully it’ll go on to break all the records.”
Cameron’s record-breaking balloon, filling one of the vast Brabazon Hangars
Project director Alan Noble joined Cameron Balloons in 1998. He said: “We are the only balloons to have flown around the world and we built Fedor’s balloon that took him around the world a couple of years ago.
“As that was a success he decided to come back to us to set the new altitude record.”
Don Cameron, the founder of both Cameron Balloons and the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, was present at the launch. “The reason why it has to be so big is because it’s for an altitude record, where the atmosphere is only two per cent of what it is at the surface here,” he told Bristol24/7.
Inside the cavernous balloon
Right now, adventuror Fedor is rowing from New Zealand to Chile in a British-designed vessel named AKROS, which is why he wasn’t around to inspect the balloon himself. When he makes the high-altitude attempt in 2019 he will fly inside a pressurised gondola, which is still being constructed in Cameron Balloons’ factory.
Read more: 40 special shapes to help celebrate Balloon Fiesta’s 40th birthday
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