Balloonist Is Expected to Skirt Africa Today

Adventurer Steve Fossett sailed steadily over the southern Atlantic on Monday on his quest to make the first nonstop balloon flight around the world.

Fossett’s mission control at Washington University in St. Louis said Fossett had piloted his 150-foot-tall balloon nearly 3,335 miles from his starting point in Mendoza, Argentina. He was traveling east at a speed of 82 mph at an altitude of just over 25,200 feet.

“Right now, he’s doing great,” said Marie Finkelman, a spokeswoman at mission control.

Alan Blount, director of Fossett’s control center, said problems with some of the craft’s propane burners had been worked out and Fossett now can use all four burners.

Fossett’s flight team expected him to pass between St. Helena and Tristan da Cunha Islands in the south Atlantic Ocean as he flies eastward toward South Africa.

“Everything is right on the money,” Finkelman said. “The balloon is flying itself. No complications are going on right now.”

The flight team expects him to pass 300 to 350 miles southwest of the southern tip of Africa by about 1 p.m. today.

If all goes according to plan, Fossett will then try to fly on to Australia before returning to South America via the Pacific.

The 54-year-old Chicago businessman took off from western Argentina late Friday in a bid to become the first balloonist to circle the world. He hopes to complete the course around the Southern Hemisphere--most of it over treacherous oceans--in 14 to 18 days.

It is Fossett’s fourth attempt to crack one of aviation’s most elusive feats. Several other teams plan attempts from the Northern Hemisphere late this year or early in 1999.

Information on the flight can be found on the Internet at https://solospirit.wustl.edu.