The Hindu Business Line : `Trooper' Singhania reaches newer heights

JOURNEY TO 69,852 FT AND BACK: Dr Vijaypat Singhania, 67, after breaking the 17-year-old `high altitude record in a hot air balloon' in Mumbai on Saturday. - Paul Noronha

Mumbai , Nov. 26

PERHAPS the most enduring image of Dr Vijaypat Singhania's journey to 69,852 ft and back, was that of a huge balloon, quietly drifting seaward and into the early morning skies of a sleepy Mumbai.

The most relevant result of today was that some time between 8.33 and 8.55 in the morning, which was when he achieved his maximum altitude above Ulhasnagar, Dr Singhania broke Swedish aviator Per Lindstrand's 17-year-old `high altitude record in a hot air balloon' of 64,997 ft.

"It is an event that makes me very proud. We had attempted an almost impossible challenge," Dr Singhania said, on his return to the city's turf club from Sinnar near Shirdi, where he had landed by 11.30 a.m. The landing spelt a virtual reversal of fortunes, coming as it did just after Mr Colin Prescot, a senior member of the balloon team said, Dr Singhania may remain afloat for several more hours because his descent past 35,000 ft was being hampered by solar heating.

As it emerged, conditions improved well enough for the Chairman Emeritus of Raymond Ltd to attempt and succeed in landing that too, it appears, without firing the propane burners reserved for the descent.

"If I was the pilot, I would have flown till the sun was down because that is a safer way. But he is a trooper!" Mr Prescot said. In fact, minor problems began right after lift-off as the mammoth balloon started losing height due to both a hitch in its kerosene burners and the coolness of the early morning air.

Burners were fired and with the sun coming out height gain kicked in. By 8.15 a.m., the balloon was reported at above 45,000 ft and headed inland towards Trombay. A little later, Mr Gautam Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, Raymond Ltd, said his father's journey had entered its critical phase with the balloon at 58,000 ft. Dr Singhania said that he had shouted in delight in his pressurized capsule when the 67,000 ft-mark was crossed; Federation Aeronatique Internationale (FAI) rules recognising a new record when the old one is bettered by at least three per cent.

However, his kerosene burners worked only intermittently in the rarefied atmosphere and beyond some 50,000 ft the upward drift was courtesy solar heating as well. Despite their performance (three out of the 18 burners got nipped during lift-off and the ones that worked remained erratic), the kerosene burners must have contributed to the flight's success. Designed by Mr Andy Elson's team, kerosene burners helped reduce the balloon's weight, besides offering a more adjustable flame for the ascent. These burners plus the life support system of Dr Singhania's `space age capsule' were among critical differences between the technology showcased in Mumbai and what Lindstrand used at Plano, Texas, in 1988.

The quiet giant that helped him `touch the face of God'. - Paul Noronha

There was a likely time lag when at 8.58 a.m. Mr Gautam Singhania announced the commencement of the balloon's descent, after a new world record achieved at "69,000 ft."

According to him, Dr Singhania had gone up to 69,000 ft and then slipped back to 68,000 ft. He then fired the burners and got back to 69,000 ft given the mission's stated goal of 70,000 ft. But with a new world record already in place, wiser option appeared to be a retreat from the truly dangerous altitudes above 50,000 ft.

With his windows covered in ice, Dr Singhania never got to see the outside world from those heights. His camera system malfunctioned as did, reportedly, his communication system.

The maximum altitude achieved and provided to the media at Mr Prescot's briefing of 10.55 a.m., had been measured by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) using a GPS-based system. Readings from two outboard devices on the capsule were awaited, then.

The Aero Club of India was expected to ratify the measurements and forward it to the FAI.

"It is actually a certified record now," Mr Gautam Singhania said of the flight.

In tune with FAI regulations, the balloon was also detached from the capsule only after touch down.

"We saw it moving around up there. I don't know where it has finally landed," Dr Singhania said of the quiet giant that had helped him `touch the face of God.'

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