XP Energy Systems Provides Back-Up Power For Successful World Record Transatlantic Balloon Bid

One of the world's leading explorers, David Hempleman-Adams, has just succeeded in his XP Power-sponsored World record-breaking attempt to cross the northern Atlantic in the smallest gas-balloon ever to attempt this flight. Unable to steer his helium balloon, he was at the mercy of the winds, and without a burner he had to release helium to descend and drop sand bags to gain height.



Among his previous achievements, Hempleman-Adams has conquered both geographic and magnetic poles and climbed Everest.



Setting off from the Newfoundland coast in Canada, the successful attempt took four days, encountering temperatures of minus 20C and offering little sleep to the pilot in his small open wicker basket in which he could only sit down by sticking his legs out of a cat-flap. He landed safely in a field on the outskirts of Nolay, a village 30 miles south of Dijon, in eastern France. He travelled 2,625 miles and had been in the air for 89 hours and 27 minutes.

The flight had a zero carbon footprint since helium is an inert natural gas and the sand ballast, or fuel, was thrown out to fly the balloon.



Speaking at the start of the adventure, Larry Tracey, Executive Chairman of XP Power commented, We're proud to be a major sponsor of this venture. David is renowned for pushing the boundaries of what was previously thought possible and that's exactly the way we approach the design challenges in our business. We wish him every success and, above all, a safe flight.



Hempleman-Adams added, I'm extremely nervous about this challenge. It is on the edge of technology and possibility. People have asked me, 'Why are you doing it?' and I say, 'I want to push myself as a pilot and push the equipment and technology to the extreme'. There is no such thing as an easy world record. I don't mind the cold temperatures but I'm wary of having to land in the water. All three of my daughters can swim further than me. In the event of ditching, I will have a life raft, and lots of seasickness tablets. With XP Power's support, at least I know the control room is going to be backing me up all the way.





The Xi3000 system provided to Hempleman-Adams was the 3kVA model from XP Energy Systems’ established Xi Series, which includes models rated from 1 to 6kVA. Like other models in the Series, the power system can be rack mounted, free standing or stacked and incorporates many standard and optional features designed to make it easy to install and easy to use. The system was supplied with an additional battery module to extend offline run-time.



Compared to other UPS systems, Xi units are extremely compact and, at 510 mm deep, they fit any standard 600 or 800mm cabinets. Including battery pack, the Xi3000 weighs under 30kg, which makes it easy to handle.



The UPS provides 230VAC output and uses a proprietary universal battery design. As standard, the new unit comes with hot-swappable five-year life batteries with a recharge cycle of less than four hours to 90% capacity. A ten-year life battery is an option.



To allow for use in either horizontal rack-mount or vertical stand-alone applications, the unit’s digital display unit can be rotated through 90 degrees. The display provides information on a number of parameters including input voltage, output voltage and frequency, battery voltage and load. It was supplied to the project with Xprotect software and covers all Windows® based platforms. Xprotect offers all of the functionality of standard shutdown packages with some additional features for remote monitoring and control. Monitoring is achieved locally via RS232 or remotely via a connected network. Accessories include slot-in, volt-free alarm contacts, USB interface and SNMP network adaptors.



Captain’s Log

During the last hours of his flight, Hempleman-Adams, from Bath, wrote in his online internet diary, or blog, The French countryside is gorgeous and thank God I'm over land! I've just passed the distance I needed to get the world record for the class of balloon I'm flying. I can't believe it. We've done it. I'm so pleased, thank you everyone.

He also described the dramatic last few hours: I had already seen land [the northern coast of France] and then the next thing I knew I thought I was heading back to sea ... I had a bit of a panic attack.

It was the scariest part of the trip. In my fog of tiredness I got confused. But I didn't sleep a wink all night so that probably explains it.

During the flight he had written about the exhaustion he was suffering because of the lack of sleep.

I dropped from 11,000ft to 9,000ft when I nodded off. At one point I saw lights coming out of the darkness towards me. I thought it was a plane with its landing lights on and I got hold of my strobe light to warn it away, but the lights were still there. Very bright. Then I realised it was a planet. he wrote.

Hempleman-Adams, a businessman, already held 29 ballooning records before his latest attempt. In January he broke the 26-year-old world hot air balloon altitude record by ascending to 32,500ft over Alberta, Canada. And in 2003 he became the first person to cross the Atlantic solo in an open wicker basket.

He took up ballooning at the age of 46 because he felt too old to ski or climb. He has led 29 expeditions. In 1992 he led the first team to walk unsupported to the North Geomagnetic Pole. In April 1998 he reached the North Geographic Pole and in so doing completed the Adventurers' Grand Slam, meaning he had climbed the highest mountain on each continent and reached the North and South Geographic and Magnetic Poles.