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 In honour of the 60th Anniversary of the WW2 Victory Day, three Russian balloonists on two hot-air balloons of different categories established four national records at one bout: two duration records and two distance records. The records are remarkable for the fact that flights were made in daytime and - first in the history of the Russian aeronautics - in night-time. The pilots have long prepared for this important event on the eve of the Victory Day. Especially for the record program, the pilots obtained the night-time flight permission.The hot-air balloon Dmitrov-850 (AX -10 subclass according to the FAI classification, envelope volume 4250 cu. m), one of the two largest montgolfiers in Russia, was piloted by two famous balloonists, masters of sports Stanislaw Fuodoroff and Yuri Taran. The hot-air balloon Grand Park belonging to the AX-9 category (envelope volume 3970 cu. m) was piloted by another well-known aeronaut, master of sports Mikhail Bakanov.The records were fixed by instruments, confirmed by authorized sports commissioner of the Federation of Aviation Sports of Russia Damir Mengazetdinov and testified by witnesses.The Dmitrov-850 balloon established the flight duration record - 16 hours 38 minutes, the distance record - 345 km. Duration of flight of the Grand Park balloon was 13 hours 31 minutes, distance - 342 km.The balloons took off near the town of Tula on the 23 of March. The altitude of flight reached 1000 metres. The crews had to continue flight in night-time which is so far unique for Russian free-flying balloons. They landed on the 24 of March. The balloon of Taran and Fuodoroff reached Voronezh Region, Bakanovs balloon - Tambov Region.According to Mikhail Bakanov, peculiarity of this flight was that due to careful preparation possible risks were minimized: the balloons succeeded to avoid wind shears which is very important for night-time flights; constant alteration of the flight altitude allowed maintaining the maximum speed.The envelopes, according to rules of aircraft operation, were equipped with navigation lights.
  During the flight, the Dmitrov-850 balloon used 1400 litres of liquid propane, the Grand Park balloon - 1070 litres. Each balloon was provided with 3 GPS systems and 2 radio stations. During the long flight, the pilots were on a special diet of tea and meagre packed meal.The flight was organized by the Augur Aeronautical Centre, Federation of Aeronautics of Russia, and Russian Aeronautic Society. This precedent opens new possibilities for establishing world duration and distance records in aeronautics for balloon of AX -9 and AX -10 subclasses.
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