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Troy Bradley has broken three World Records, one of which was the oldest of all FAI World Records, on the books since 1922. In his amateur-built gas balloon, Troy Bradley covered a distance of 1’971 km in 35 hours and 18 minutes. The second oldest unbroken FAI World Record still belongs to the LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin” airship.

Record breaking flight on board a homebuilt gas balloon
On Thursday, January 3th, 2002, the balloonist Troy Bradley (New Mexico / USA) took off from Amarillo (Texas) with his brand-new homebuilt Class AA-3 gas balloon containing 402 m3 (14’200 cubic feet) of helium. 35 hours and 18 minutes later, as he safely landed at Enon Valley (Pennsylvania), Troy BRADLEY had covered a distance of 1’971.81 km (1’225.23 miles), not only beating three World Records (Class AA-3, AA-4 and AA-5), but also breaking the FAI’s oldest aviation World Record. The previous distance record for Class AA-3 gas balloons was set on July 1st, 1922, when Georges Cormier (France) flew 804,17 km (499.69 miles).

FAI classification of aerostats
To allow a fair comparison of performances and as the level of performance differs significantly between different types of aerostats, the FAI recognizes various sub-classes in Class A (free balloons) and Class B (airships). Class A is divided into 5 sub-classes (AA – no airborne heater / AX – hot air balloons / AM - mixed, etc.), each containing 15 categories according to size (AA-1 : 250 m3 and less / AA-3 : 400 to 600 m3 / AA-4 : 600 to 900 m3, and so on up to AA-15 : more than 22’000 m3). Balloons of Sub-class AA are not equipped with an airborne heater and they obtain their buoyancy from a lighter-than-air gas (helium, hydrogen), without pressurisation of the envelope. Sand or water serves as ballast and is dropped overboard in small amounts to let the balloon go higher. When the pilot wants to land, he opens a valve at the top of the envelope to release small amounts of the lifting gas. To fly the maximum distance, the balloonist has to ration his use of both ballast and gas, while searching for the fastest winds at different altitudes. It is a sport of endurance and strategy.

Second oldest unbroken FAI World Record still belongs to the “Graf Zeppelin”
According to the FAI World Record files, the second oldest unbroken world record performance is still held by the famous airship LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin”. The flight started on October 29th, 1928, at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station (NJ) and ended at Friedrichshafen (Germany) on November 1st. Dr Hugo ECKENER was at the controls of the airship and, together with his 41 crew members, 24 passengers and one stowaway (!), he covered a total distance of 6’384 km.

Lausanne, June 6th, 2002