Balloonist set for round world flight

Adventurer Steve Fossett put the final touches today on what he hoped would be the first solo balloon flight around the world.

‘‘We’ve had no complications and we are looking forward to a flawless launch,’’ Fossett said as his support team prepared to begin inflating the towering 140ft by 60ft silver balloon, dubbed Solo Spirit.

About 100 spectators huddled outside the gates at the tiny airport at Kalgoorlie in western Australia to witness the final preparations.

Fossett said he hoped to rise into the sky above the gold mining town in the remote desert at about midnight (1600 GMT).

But the launch looked likely to be delayed by strong surface winds, mission spokesman Keith Jenkins said later.

Inflating the balloon, which will be filled with a mixture of hot air and helium, takes about six hours and requires very light winds. Even moderate winds could catch underneath the balloon and tear it during the early inflation stage.

Jenkins said the launch team would wait to begin inflating the balloon until the early hours of the morning when winds were expected to drop.

Fossett, a 57-year old US investment tycoon, remained optimistic.

‘‘This is the best-prepared balloon flight I’ve been involved in,’’ he said.

If Fossett completes the record-breaking trip, he will spend about 15 days in a cramped, canary yellow capsule, often breathing oxygen through a mask, eating military-style rations and sleeping no more than 45 minutes at a time for a total of four hours a day.

‘‘The food will be dreadful,’’ Fossett joked.

Jet stream winds will propel the balloon around the world at speeds up to 130 mph and altitudes reaching 30,000ft.

The planned flight path takes him eastward around the globe in the Southern Hemisphere, and almost 90% of his time will be spent over water.

The adventurer has tried the feat twice before. His first attempt to fly around the world in 1997 ended with a crash landing in a wheat field in southern Russia.

He tried again in 1998, but ran into a thunderstorm that tore open his balloon and sent him crashing into the Coral Sea, 500 miles east of Australia.

That trip got him the world record for the longest balloon flight - 14,235 miles.