ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Modeled after the world’s oldest air race and world championships for distance gas ballooning, the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has announced its unofficial winners. Teams competing see how far they can travel with the winners flying the greatest distance from the launch point at Balloon Fiesta Park.
Gas balloons are unable to refuel and once they lift off, pilots only have gas, ballast (expendable weight), instruments, and supplies they take on board with them.
This year, Team 4 including Noah Forden and Bert Padelt have been named the official winners. Kim Vesely with the Balloon Fiesta explains that the team landed at the Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport in Texas.
The Balloon Fiesta website offers a tracking map of the competition that shows all of the teams and where they traveled. For more information on America’s Challenge and this year’s competitors, visit balloonfiesta.com/americas-challenge.