'I turned to Saibaba to save my honor' – Vijaypat Singhania
Vijaypat Singhania is convinced he was blessed with more than a fair dollop of what he terms ''good luck'' in his record breaking balloon flight last Saturday.
''I am grateful to God and Shirdi Sai Babaji for making the trip possible,'' Vijaypat told me yesterday.
Members of the Wellington Sports Club gave him a standing ovation when he entered the bar-cum-dining area of the Wellington Sports Club yesterday afternoon. Dressed in a safari suit, Vijaypat looked relaxed as he recounted details of his voyage to the edge of space.
''Every time it seemed that my mission would fail, God and Baba came to my rescue,'' he said. ''I was in constant communication with them all the way".
The unexpectedly strong winds lifted off his balloon from its moorings prematurely, even before he was fully ready. Whereas the balloon should have taken off vertically, the gust dragged him westwards towards the sea at a dangerously low altitude. At this juncture a rescue helicopter set off in pursuit and chief co-coordinator Andy Elson radioed to Vijaypat that he was ready to rescue him if he landed in the sea. ''How farcical it would have been had I abandoned the mission just a few minutes after lift-off. I would have been the laughing stock of the world. With the burners not working efficiently, I turned to God and Saibaba and asked them to save my honor.
''You won't believe me, but at that very moment my prayers were answered, the burners kicked up and the balloon started to lift off, as if by Divine ordination. However, my burners started packing up soon after lift-off and it didn't take long for all 18 of them to stop functioning. For the later part of my journey the balloon was powered by solar heat.''
Vijaypat says the balloon's ascent stalled at 60,000. ''Hey Baba,'' I said. ''You have brought me so close to the record, don't let me down now. My prayers were answered again and the balloon soared past Per Lindstrand's record of 64,997 feet to a height of 69,852 feet.''
''At this stage Andy ordered me to return. I was sorely tempted to stay back, burn a little fuel and ascend to 75,000, perhaps even 72,000 feet. But I recalled Andy's voice admonishing me that anything above 45,000 is forbidden territory. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and started descending".
''Apart from the problem with burners, there were snags with pressurization of the capsule, frosting of the cockpit window and failure of the camera and radio systems. A major slip-up concerned the lack of toilet facilities.
Referring to problems during his descent, Vijaypat said he ignored Andy Elson's advice to slow down his descent speed, which would have necessitated his having to stay aloft for another five to six hours. ''I used my commander's prerogative and decided to return even though the ground wind was dangerously fast. I was fortunate to land without any problem. Had the capsule tilted forward during touchdown, serious injury could have resulted?
''Somebody up there was definitely watching over me,'' he says. He also considers his landing at Sinnar, between Nasik and Shirdi significant.
Certification of the record by the Federation Aviation International, the world body, is expected shortly.
Meanwhile, Jatin Vakani, Singhania's long-time flying companion claims that although the altimeter in the capsule shows a reading of 69,852 feet, the 164-ft height of the balloon increases past the targeted figure of 70,000 to 70,016.
Vijaypat mischievously refused to be drawn into divulging future plans. However, his Cloud Nine demeanor suggested that Mission Impossible was, by no stretch of the imagination, his last adventure
By: Khalid A H Ansari
November 28, 2005
