Steve Fossett's world record stands at - Northam, Western Australia to Queensland, Australia. 13 days 12 hours 5 minutes (14 days 19 hours 50 minutes to landing), 20,482.26 statute miles (32,963 kilometres).
How many persons can go up in a balloon ? The most common model can welcome 1 pilot and 2 passengers. But the ones made for group flights have a bigger capacity: between 4 and 10 passengers. More than 32 passengers can fly in the biggest hot-air balloons ever made !
Ballooning is not appropriate for:Infants or young children (under the age of 6 yrs/48 inches tall).Pregnant women.Individuals who have done a deep scuba dive within the past few days.
Propane, the fuel used almost exclusively in hot air ballooning, has the additional advantage of being readily available and quite inexpensive in today's energy-scarce world. Also called liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, it is a by-product of the petroleum-manufacturing process.
The majority of hot air balloons do not have built-in seating, nor can they allow portable seats for safety reasons. So you, unfortunately, will not be able to sit down during a hot air balloon ride. But railings are available, and your pilot will cover any of your additional safety concerns.
What if I need to go to the bathroom? There are no bathroom facilities available on balloons! As flights can last over an hour, you need to make sure that you take a bathroom break before take-off.
Can A Hot Air Balloon Fly In The Rain? Although fixed-wing aircraft can fly in the rain, hot air balloons don't typically fly in the rain. The rain isn't great for the hot air balloon fabric, and the weather associated with rain isn't safe to fly balloons in.
Luckily, no one was hurt. And, fortunately, hot air balloon accidents are rare. Going back to 1964, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has only recorded a total of 775 such accidents in the United States.