Sep 4, 2013 America’s Challenge Teams Prepare for Cross-Country Adventure Eighteenth Race Set for October 5 Launch Experienced and formidable. That describes the field for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s 18th America’s Challenge distance race for gas balloons. The ten members of the five teams have a combined 110 years of experience flying in the America’s Challenge, along with dozens of competitive years in the other great distance race, the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett. Three of the five teams include former America’s Challenge winners. The object of the America’s Challenge is to fly the greatest distance from Albuquerque while competing within the event rules. The balloonists often stay aloft more than two days and must use the winds aloft and weather systems to their best advantage to gain the greatest distance. Flights of more than 1,000 miles are not unusual, and the winners sometimes travel as far as Canada and the U.S. East Coast. This year’s competitors are: • Mark Sullivan and Cheri White, USA: Last year Sullivan, from Albuquerque, and White, from Austin, TX, flew to Beauville, North Carolina to win their second America’s Challenge (their first was in 2008). Their winning 2012 flight of 2,623 km (1,626 miles) ended just short of the East Coast and was the fourth longest in the history of the race. The team has finished as high as third in the Coupe Gordon Bennett (2009). Mark Sullivan, a multiple-award-winning competitor in both hot air and gas balloons and the American delegate to the world ballooning federation, is the founder of the America’s Challenge. He is the only pilot in the race to have flown in all of the previous America’s Challenge races; Cheri White will be participating in her ninth America’s Challenge. • Peter Cuneo and Barbara Fricke, USA: Cuneo and Fricke, from Albuquerque, have won the race twice (2001 and 2010) and have finished second four times; their third-place effort in last year’s America’s Challenge was their longest-ever gas flight (2,345 km/1,465 miles). Each is flying their 15th America’s Challenge. Fricke and Cuneo finished third in the 2008 Gordon Bennett, the last time the race was held in Albuquerque. Their many other ballooning adventures include flying ten squawking geese suspended beneath a balloon as part of an experiment in imprinting migration patterns on geese, and participation in a 2002 smoke balloon flight over the Nazca lines, a series of ancient geoglyphs in Peru. • Phil Bryant and Andy Cayton, USA: Co-pilot Andy Cayton, from the Savannah, Georgia area, is a two-time America’s Challenge winner (2006 and 2007); his 2006 win, which involved a transit of the Gulf of Mexico, was one of the most daring America’s Challenge flights ever. In 2012, Cayton with co-pilot Bill Manuel finished third in the Coupe Gordon Bennett. This will be Cayton’s seventh America’s Challenge start. Houston’s Phil Bryant, a former president of the Balloon Federation of America, will be flying in his sixth America’s Challenge. • J. Michael Wallace and Kevin Brielmann, USA: Gas ballooning is loaded with tradition, and that tradition is embodied by Mike Wallace and Kevin Brielmann. Their Spirit of Springfield is the last traditional “netted” gas balloon still being flown in the United States (think Around the World in 80 Days); their balloon is a piece of living history. Wallace and Brielmann are longtime distinguished international competitors who finished second in the Coupe Gordon Bennett in 1995 and 1996; they’ve competed in 11 previous America’s Challenge races. • John Kugler and Bert Padelt, USA: These two veteran competitors are flying together in the America’s Challenge for the first time, but both have competed in many previous America’s Challenge races (Kugler in 10, Padelt in 14). John Kugler is especially known in the gas ballooning world as a pioneer in the experimental use of ammonia as a lifting gas. He was also a member of the flight support team for the late Steve Fossett’s around- the-world flights and taught Fossett how to fly balloons. Bert Padelt is one of the world’s premier balloon designers and builders, most recently developing and promoting American-built hydrogen gas balloons (two of these systems are flying in this year’s race). Since helium is (at least for now) no longer an option for gas balloon flights, hydrogen balloons are seen as the future of the sport in the U.S. For the first time in many years, all of the competitors in the America’s Challenge are from the U.S. As was the case last year, all of the balloons will be using hydrogen as the lifting gas. The America’s Challenge is the U.S. qualifier for the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett. The top three American finishers are generally invited by the Gas Division of the Balloon Federation of America to represent the United States in the Gordon Bennett; the 2014 event will be held in Vichy, in south central France. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Web site, www.balloonfiesta.com, and the Balloon Fiesta app for Android and iPhones, will feature live computerized tracking of all the balloons and race updates throughout the competition. Oct 3, 2013 Teams Arriving for America's Challenge Most of the competitors in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s 18th America’s Challenge cross-country race for gas balloons are in Albuquerque this evening, preparing their equipment and supplies for their journey. Destination? Unknown. The object of the race is to fly the greatest distance from Balloon Fiesta Park. Flights of more than 1,000 miles (more than 1,600 km) are not uncommon, and the race record is just shy of 2,000 miles (3,200+ km). The five America’s Challenge teams, along with their ground support crews and race officials, will gather for the first race briefing at 3 PM MDT (2100Z) on Friday. This comprehensive briefing includes a review of rules and procedures, safety information and – significantly -- weather. Race officials closely monitor weather systems both locally and across the country in the interest of the balloonists’ safety. The balloons are scheduled to take off at approximately 6:30 PM MDT (0030Z) on Saturday, October 5. Weather conditions and wind direction especially at altitude, both at the launch point and downrange, will determine the exact timing of the launch. The other major event of the opening briefing is determination of the launch order, which is always decided by random draw. Well . sort of. The pilots have the option of passing their turn when it comes their time to launch, and last year almost all the competitors did just that. The last team in line – Mark Sullivan and Cheri White – became the first to launch. They went on to win the race. We’ll provide ongoing updates through the Balloon Fiesta website, www.rrps.net, or the Balloon Fiesta mobile app. Once the race starts, you can also track your favorite team’s progress in real time via online live tracking. Oct 4, 2013 America’s Challenge Launch Order Set Five teams, ten pilots, one goal . to fly safely the longest distance from Balloon Fiesta Park and emerge triumphant in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s 18th America’s Challenge for gas balloons. Launch is scheduled for approximately 6 PM on Saturday, October 5 from Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta Park. The launch is half of a spectacular Balloon Fiesta double-header which also includes the Twilight Twinkle Glow for hot air balloons. All five teams answered today’s role call at the inaugural pilot briefing, held at 1500 MDT (2100Z). At the briefing, Event Director Johnny Petrehn and the America’s Challenge support team summarized launch procedures, airspace information, safety information, and weather. High pressure will be building into Albuquerque behind the strong upper-level weather system that is currently pulling out of the area. Trajectory forecasts for a Saturday launch suggest the balloons would move south and then to the west into Arizona, which would be a very unusual direction for the balloons to travel. A Sunday launch would move the balloons to the northeast, which is the more usual track. Race officials are scheduled to review the weather data with the pilots again on Saturday at 11:30 AM and make a final determination on the launch time. The launch order for the race is determined by random draw. The launch order is. Team 1: Peter Cuneo / Barbara Fricke Team 2: J. Michael Wallace / Kevin Brielmann Team 3: John Kugler / Bert Padelt Team 4: Mark Sullivan / Cheri White Team 5: Phil Bryant / Andy Cayton Gas balloons use a lighter than air gas – in this case, hydrogen – for lift. Unlike hot air balloon flights, which generally last only an hour or two, gas balloons can stay up for two or three days and travel long distances. Last year, two of the five teams landed very close to the East Coast. The Balloon Fiesta website, www.rrps.net, and the America’s Challenge mobile tracking app, http://www.balloonfiestalcom/GasTracking/2013/mobile.html, will provide real-time tracking of the balloons’ positions and news and updates on the race. Oct 5, 2013 America’s Challenge Launch Postponed for 24 Hours America’s Challenge Event Director John Petrehn has just announced a one-day postponement in the launch of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta America’s Challenge distance race for gas balloons. The launch is now scheduled for approximately 6 PM on Sunday, October 6, with inflation beginning about three hours before the launch.