British explorer David Hempleman-Adams has broken the endurance record by spending more than 14 hours in a tiny hot air balloon over the United States.

Hempleman-Adams (52), of Box, Wiltshire, set the record over the US riding in a scaled-down basket.

He flew 200 miles from Butler, Missouri, to Cherokee, Oklahoma, in 14 hours and 15 minutes using the class AA-01 balloon. The previous record was an eight hours and 12 minutes flight undertaken by American Coy Foster in March 1983.

Hempleman-Adams said his record-breaking flight in the CMC Markets Challenger balloon had "a bit of everything". "Beautiful scenery, some scary times, and a real test of skill," he said.

Hempleman-Adams credited his success to a strong, experienced team and his lucky mascot, Nigel Mitchell, the official observer for the flight.
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"I have had a brilliant team. My lucky mascot is Nigel. Whenever he accompanies me on my flights I win. It was one of those trips which was just amazingly lucky.

"Everything came together, it was absolutely fantastic, beautiful weather, no thunderstorms, the team all turned up at the right times and all the equipment arrived in the right places," he said.

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