Impressive Danish balloon flight record

Press release from DONG Energy sent at 02:58 PM on Wednesday 05.11.2008

Impressive Danish balloon flight record

Despite strong winds, a threatening warm front, and a low haze, Denmark's leading balloon pilot Philip Mundt was able to fulfil one of his major goals - a Danish balloon record. 

Despite strong winds, a threatening warm front, and a low haze, Denmark's leading balloon pilot Philip Mundt was able to fulfil one of his major goals - a Danish balloon record. After three years of careful planning, several unsuccessful attempts and numerous setbacks, his efforts culminated in a dramatic record flight on Sunday 2 November, resulting in an impressive extended flight time of seven hours and 25 minutes.

The eye-catching DONG Energy logo on the hot air balloon made this a very visible record attempt. The flight took place across beautiful, sunny Jutland, from Randers to Mors. No Dane has ever made a longer hot air balloon flight, and this record is a marked improvement on the previous record of four hours 37 minutes, from 1990.

In the basket of his balloon, Philip Mundt carried nine bottles of gas, containing a total of 475 litres of propane gas, his survival suit and radio and navigation equipment. There was no room for anything more because of weight restrictions, since every single kilo counts when aiming to fly for the longest possible time.

Philip Mundt says: “The first four hours of the flight were by far the worst. Time dragged by at a snail’s pace, and the wind was extremely high. The final hours were much nicer- I flew over the Limfjord area, where I had to constantly try to find different ways to optimise flight time whilst avoiding large bodies of water.”

The record was achieved in cooperation with DONG Energy. Read more about the record attempts at www.mundt.dk/rekord.

Facts about the record attempt

Starting point: Tvede, north of Randers

Landing point: Rakkeby, west of Mors in Limfjorden

Distance travelled: 98 km.

New flight time record: 7 hours 25 minutes

Existing record: 4 hours and 37 minutes from 1995.

Balloon pilot

Philip Mundt

2008 Danish balloon flight champion

Ranked no.1 in Denmark

375 flying hours

Pilot since 2003

Balloon crew

Kim Hans Christian Larsen

Camilla Johannessen

Lars Westh Jan Larsen

FAI record observer

Marcus Malmqvist, elite paraglider pilot

Contact information:

For further information, contact:

Balloon pilot

Philip Mundt

Telephone: +45 26733193

DONG Energy,

Media Relations

Ulrik Frøhlke Telephone: +45 99559560

DONG Energy er en af Nordeuropas førende energikoncerner med hovedsæde i Danmark. Vores forretning er baseret på at fremskaffe, producere, distribuere, handle og sælge energi og tilknyttede produkter i Nordeuropa. Selskabet havde en nettoomsætning i 2007 på DKK 41,6 mia. (ca. EUR 5,6 mia. eller USD 8,3 mia.). Antallet af medarbejdere er flere end 5.000. For yderligere information, se www.dongenergy.com.