As Fyodor Konyukhov and his team spend the last hours before the start
On the tarmac in the Australian Northam began the pre-start fever — July 12, around seven in the morning local time (two hours nights in Moscow), the Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov will travel round the world flight in a balloon, “Morton”. The Correspondent.<url>” visited at the start, spoke with the balloonist and his team and looked at how there is a preparation for the historic event.
The day before the start of the 11 July at nine in the morning — Northam airport was closed for flights and began the layout of the 60-foot globe manufactured by the British company Cameron Balloons. To help in this international project team has meant local celebrity — Rugby team, but at the appointed time, the athletes did not appear — perhaps the repeated postponements of the start does not fit into their schedule.
Photo: courtesy of the Morton group
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Instead, it took the volunteers. 77-year-old don Cameron, founder of Cameron Balloons, personally supervising the work, he held a short briefing, after which the volunteers made and laid on the protective film, which had been used Steve Fossett during his round the world flight in 2002, a ball weighing two tons. There, in a field, ride a gondola in which Fedor Konyukhov will spend about two weeks. All this time, he will sleep for three seconds every half hour to feed on warm water and dissolved in it freeze-dried products. Even watch the stars in the night sky, in recognition of the traveller, he will not have time. “If I see what was below the clouds — then I fall”, — he explained.
As soon as it became known the exact date of commencement of travel, in the local media and social networks, especially in the Russian community in Australia, there was an invitation to come and help Fyodor Konyukhov to prepare for the start. The volunteers were warned that it would be useful to bring food for themselves and others, and to dress warmly, as the process will go on continuously during the day, before the start, and at night are expected frosts — up to minus two.
I must say, fly around the world Russian traveler Russian in Australia — a great event, and Fyodor Konyukhov, oddly enough, the word is used in reference to this man, superstar.
Since June 1, when the team arrived in Northam on the field constantly coming in and people come — to local journalists, the buses with tourists who are fortunate enough to get into Western Australia in this historic moment, mothers with children from the surrounding villages and towns, some coming from the other end of the continent — Sydney and Melbourne, despite the distance and the impressive price of the ticket (700 AUD $ 35 per thousand).
Journalists take from her countless interviews and presented with gifts from the newsrooms, young mothers sit nearby on the grass with kids and toys and patiently waiting for the opportunity to make a photo with a character in memory. And personally, everyone is trying to say something kind, to wish you a good flight and facilitate pre-start jitters: bring lemons from their garden, tangerines, honey…
Photo: Svetlana Khazova
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To accompany the traveler on a flight a few days before the launch arrived, and the representative of the aboriginal community Northam Shane Garlet. The man, dressed in a jacket, sweatpants and sneakers, shaman were given only a piercing stern look, gold on the fingers, a didgeridoo (the oldest wind instrument of the Australian aborigines, which do not touch women) and the national songs; he called the good weather and asked the spirits to help the brave balloonist.
Six hustle around and gondola Fedor took stoically, despite repeated exhausting shifts start and a steady stream of visitors. He does not to betray his excitement and the questions of the correspondent “Tapes.<url>” about how he felt, with a smile, but answered firmly: “Feelings let him remain with me, their words can not Express”.
Seeing the kids, he breaks into a smile and patiently posed for a photo. High-ranking visitors from administrations and consulates met with a handshake and escorted to the hangar, offering coffee. There, in the makeshift kitchen, where access was open to all guests arriving on the field, went edible gifts.
While experts checked the instruments, set up the burner, watched the weather forecasts and made their conclusions, Fedor Konyukhov was sitting on the edge of the gondola and talked on his cell phone, trying to shout over the wind.
“Nick, come to school, bring your hand to the Director and loudly introduce yourself! Something I have for you is very much worried” — he shouts in the phone. It turns out that his younger son Nicholas is preparing to enter the Suvorov military school, and it is important that in these days care father.
When the flow of visitors was slightly down, Fedor climbed into the gondola was closed and there was sitting alone, gathering his thoughts, — I say, set up the equipment.
But the tremendous nervous strain of the last fifteen months, primarily because of the endless transfers and repeatedly uttered by the organizers of the words “we have only one chance, in the end did not survive even Fedor: during a meeting last week when the launching was scheduled for July 7, and found that the weather turned bad again, he just silently got up and left.
Now there’s no turning back: the ball is almost ready to fly, and in the night from 11 to 12 July, he will begin to pump helium. On the field declared a break, and the pilot went to rest before the start. This means that on 12 July he’ll definitely go to the world, unless you happen to any force majeure.
