Apart from Konyukhov, only three other people have managed a non-stop balloon trip around the world and only one of the three flew solo.
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Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, 64, reached the Australian town of Northam on Saturday, passing over the same airfield he set out from on July 12, according to ABC, a local broadcaster.
Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has landed safely in a field on a private property in West Australia after setting a world record for circumnavigating the world solo in a hot air balloon.
“It’s fantastic – the record’s broken, everyone’s safe”.
The specially made balloon was built in Bristol in the United Kingdom, which is famous for its annual hot air balloon festival.
This handout photo taken on July 12, 2016 and received on July 23, 2016 shows a hot-air balloon named “Morton”, flown by Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov, about to take to the skies for a round-the-world trip from Northam in Western Australia. “He’s hardly slept in 11 days”.
Crews in six helicopters followed the 1.6-metric-ton (1.8-ton) balloon from Northam inland to help him land.
The gondola heating stopped working on Thursday, so Konyukhov had to thaw his drinking water with the balloon’s main hot air burner, Wallington said.
“After going 34,000 kilometers around the world he crossed the runway where he took off from”, Smith said.
He used a bucket for a toilet and emptied it over the side. His capsuled tumbled along the ground for 15 minutes after he landed on a cattle ranch in southwest Queensland state. He emerged from the capsule with a bloodied mouth from biting his lip during the rough landing, but was otherwise unhurt.
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If his record is confirmed by the World Air Sports Federation he will have taken more than two days off the record set by American Steve Fossett in 2002.
