Press release -
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.
DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe, headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,500 ambitious employees are engaged in exploring and producing oil and gas, developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms and power stations, and providing energy to residential and business customers on a daily basis. Group revenue was DKK 67bn (EUR 9.0bn) in 2014. For further information, see www.dongenergy.com
DONG Energy A/S