Fedor Konyukhov Plans to Update Balloon Flight Record

Фёдор Конюхов в Штаб-квартире РГО в Москве. Фото: Анна Юргенсон / пресс-служба РГО

The famous Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov intends to update the balloon flight record for distance and duration. The bold plan will be implemented in 2023 in an aerostat, which in itself will have no analogues in Russia.

"The aerostat is already being manufactured, and will be the largest balloon created in Russia – 12,000m3. The launch is scheduled for spring next year in the northern latitudes of our country. Follow the news," Konyukhov wrote in his Telegram channel.

The traveler discussed the details of the project at the MITEX-2022 exhibition with the management of the company “Patriot”, which was providing support for the first powered paraglider flight in the Arctic. Back then, Fedor Konyukhov and Igor Potapkin took off from an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean at 85th parallel north. An improvised runway with a length of only 100m ran along the side of the icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy"(eng. “50 Years of Victory”).

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На борту ледокола "50 лет Победы". Фото: Telegram-канал Фёдора Конюхова

Also in June 2022, Fedor Konyukhov and pilot Igor Potapkin broke their own world record for a non-stop flight on a two-seater powered paraglider. The new achievement was established just eight days after the previous one. The crew almost doubled their own result, flying about 1,040km during the air expedition "From the White Sea to the Black Sea".

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Экипаж перед стартом экспедиции "От Белого моря до Чёрного". Фото: Telegram-канал Фёдора Конюхова