Peter Cuneo and Barbara Fricke of United States flew 1,395 km (867 miles) and won the 21st America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race. Five teams took part in the long-distance ballooning competition that launched from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this month. Krzysztof Zapart and Bazyli Dawidziuk of Poland came in second, and Bert Padelt and Noah Forden of United States secured the third place.
Mark Sullivan could not fly due to medical reasons, so he and co-pilot Cheri White withdrew from the race just before launch.
Results: 21st America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race
| First Place—Team 5 from United States—Pilot Peter Cuneo; Co-Pilot Barbara Fricke | |
| Launch Date, Time | 7 Oct.2016, 6:06 UTC time |
| Flight Distance | 1,394.968 km (867 miles) |
| Flight Duration | 54 hours, 39 minutes |
| Destination; day and time reached | at Monroe City, Missouri, Oct. 9th Sunday, at 12:45 (UTC time) |
| Flight route | First several hours in Rio Grande Valley, then flew northeast, veering slightly into the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma, then toward Kansas State and Missouri |
| Balloon’s name | Foxtrot Charlie |
| Second Place— Team 1 from Poland—Pilot Krzysztof Zapart; Co-Pilot Bazyli Dawidziuk | |
| Launch Date, Time | 7 Oct.2016, 5:49 UTC |
| Flight Distance | 1,081.850 km (672 miles) |
| Flight Duration | 37 hours, 22 minutes |
| Destination; day and time reached | Smiley, east of San Antonio, Texas, on Oct. 8th, Saturday, at 19:11 (UTC time) |
| Flight route | High and fast out of Rio Grande valley and Sandia Mountains, east toward Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, and south toward south and east Texas; ran out of flying room |
| Balloon’s name | Misia |
| Third Place —Team 2 from United States–Pilot Bert Padelt; Co-Pilot Noah Forden | |
| Launch Date, Time | 7 Oct.2016, 5:56 UTC time |
| Flight Distance | 690.291 km (429 miles) |
| Flight Duration | 31 hours 10 minutes |
| Destination; day and time reached | North of Dodge City, Hanston, Kansas State, on Oct. 8th, Saturday at 13:06 (UTC time) |
| Flight route | High and fast out of Rio Grande Valley and Sandia Mountains, then northeast toward Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, and Kansas State |
| Balloon’s name | One Leg Out |
| Fourth Place —Team 6 from France—Pilot Benoit Pelard; Co-Pilot Laurent Lajoye | |
| Launch Date, Time | 7 Oct.2016, 6:10 UTC time |
| Flight Distance | 266.223 km (166 miles) |
| Flight Duration | 15 hours, 6 minutes |
| Destination; day and time reached | Navajo (Diné) reservation, White Ruin, Arizona, on Oct. 7th, Friday, at 21:16 (UTC time) |
| Flight route | First several hours in Rio Grande Valley, then flew west toward Arizona |
| Balloon’s name | Marie Marvingt |
| Fifth Place–Team 4 from United States–Pilot Phillip Bryant; Co-Pilot Mike Emich | |
| Launch Date, Time | 7 Oct.2016, 6:02 UTC time |
| Flight Distance | 24.186 km (15 miles) |
| Flight Duration | 8 hours, 13 minutes |
| Destination; day and time reached | Bernalillo, New Mexico, Oct. 7th Friday at 14:15 (UTC time) |
| Flight route | First several hours in Rio Grande Valley; ended flight early toward north of Albuquerque |
| Balloon’s name | Here We Go Again |
| Team 3 from United States–Pilot Mark Sullivan; Co-pilot Cheri White
Withdrew before launch for medical reasons |
All times mentioned are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is four hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), five hours ahead of Central Daylight Time (CDT), six hours ahead of Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) and eight hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
Please stay tuned for our upcoming feature about the excitement and challenges in the race!
Links: AIBF Website Tracking Information
AIBF Final Results
AIBF’s America’s Challenge
