Two Eagles Balloon


The Two Eagles Balloon is a custom balloon designed to break world records. A January 2015 launch from Japan toward North America has officially broken two world records as validated by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Development

The balloon was developed by a crew which included members of Steve Fossett's Spirit of Freedom balloon crew. The balloon was initially developed for a 2005 and later 2008 flight attempt by Troy Bradley using the name Celestial Eagle with a crew including Tim Cole, Bert Padelt and John Kugler. The launch 2008 attempt from Japan was canceled due to weather that would have placed the balloon in storms off California and jet streams which may have altered path to Alaska.

Design

The 100 kg Kevlar-Carbon fiber capsule was built by Composite Tooling in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The 7ftx5ft capsule carries 10,000 lb in ballast. The gondola is outfitted with a wide angle GoPro camera.
The unpressurized cockpit requires pilots to use supplemental oxygen above 12,000 ft altitude. The insulated gondola temperature is expected to have an operating temperature of 50 degrees F. Members of the Cognitive Engineering Research Institute in Mesa, Arizona will study fatigue effects during the record-attempting flight.
To slow down for landing, ropes will be dropped into the ocean to create drag prior to a planned landing on a sand dune. Lower sections of the gondola can be flooded with water for stability in a water landing.

Operational history