Challenging the limits!
Congratulations from the worldwide Ultramagic team to Henk Broeders on breaking the Dutch duration record. We are pleased to announce that Henk, who is also the current Dutch national champion, recently made a duration flight of nearly 20 hours 37 minutes. This is a new Dutch record. See story below in his own words. Dutch duration record balloon flight: |
"On Sunday January the 9th at 19.25 Henk Broeders took off in Zundert (near Breda) in the Netherlands. The idea was to create a new Dutch distance and duration record with the Ultramagic AX 11 Vaillant balloon, PH-VNL.
According to the met forecast there would be a wind speed at 15000 ft of 40 knots from the west. After leaving the Netherlands at 21.45 I was informed by Langen information to continue my flight between 6000 and 10000 ft because of air traffic. After passing the Ruhr area in Germany I was allowed to climb to 15000ft – Unfortunately the winds where only 20 knots.
Two hours later I descended to between 5000 and 7000 ft to continue my flight until sunrise and decided that I only would continue my flight for a duration record. The winds over Germany dropped to 10-15 knots from the west. My fuel consumption in the night was approx 40 kg/hr. Once the sun was raised my fuel consumption was reduced dramatically to 40 kg for 2 hours and 15 min. (17.77kg/hr). This meant therefore that I could easily continue my flight towards sunset. The landing took place at 16.02 in Podzig, north of Leipzig.
Total flying time was 20 hours and 37 minutes (new Dutch record) in a distance of only 498 km. Total fuel consumption was 611 kg giving an average day and night of 29.8 kg/hr."
Congratulation Henk from the World Wide Ultramagic Team on a fantastic achievement. Aerofabrix® insulated fabric is available exclusively from Ultramagic and can be supplied in a range of envelope options. Ultramagic – “The leader” – Challenging the limits! See also the news item on – Ecomagic! The Worlds Most Fuel Eficient Hot Air Balloons. |