At whose expense does the groom travel? Bets on Fyodor Konyukhov's round-the-world flight: Those who bet immediately after the balloon takes off will earn more. - Why don’t they remove the bodies?

FEDOR KONYUKHOV: I NEVER RECEIVED A SALARY

Traveler Fyodor Konyukhov is convinced: you need to live today and now, but saving for the future is pointless

Fyodor Konyukhov, a professional traveler, writer, and artist, admitted to a Watermark correspondent that he recognizes banknotes only by their appearance, dividing them into Russian rubles and American dollars. He doesn't know how much bread, milk and sugar cost, although he travels across the Atlantic on a maxi-yacht, rented for one and a half million euros.

You evoke different emotions in people.

Some say - “Konyukhov is a great mystifier and adventurer”, others - “He is a genius, caressed by heaven.” Do you try to surprise people so that they don’t forget?

I don’t watch TV or read newspapers, so I calmly carry out my plans, which seem crazy to people of other professions. My friends and journalists often announced that I was crazy about my loners and was leaving for another voyage to avoid the mental hospital. I would really become crazy if I made excuses to everyone.

My father, a fisherman, told me as a child: “Fedka, if you feel and understand the sea, you will be able to reveal yourself in life.”

Returning to Moscow, I am learning to talk and walk again - my tongue is stiff from long silence, and my legs do not feel the ground, like those of a one-year-old baby. I am starting to learn to speak and move on a hard floor without swaying. I'm happy!

I entered a prestigious race, the Wendy's Globe. Only professionals race yachts there and for a very big prize. I knew for sure that I wouldn’t win any money, but the very fact of participating was worth it - there had never been any Russians there. The yacht was rented to me by the Modern Humanitarian University. Old design and clumsy.

I was afraid of her. And she didn’t listen to me well. And then she lay down on board.

I was left without work - hundreds of tons of its weight cannot be lifted by hand. That was the end. Somewhere in my brain I was pounding and it dawned on me that I was still alive and that you could live without work, that others were now working for you, who loved you and were waiting for you.

He huddled in the corner of his yacht bunk, clutching the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to his chest. I prayed.

This was my job - the hardest, which a person always leaves for later. But I knew that my life depended on it, and I did not stop this work for three days and three nights. At dawn on the third day, the yacht began to rise, like a boxer in the ring after being knocked down. So she began to get up. And I read the prayer more and more slowly, fell asleep, I was so tired, I had never done such hard work in my entire life. I was saved. And then I decided not to go to the ocean anymore, because it didn’t accept me. But two years later he changed his mind.

You have a name, and, probably, you could already live calmly and comfortably for your own pleasure - in Moscow, for example?

And I'm afraid. I don't know what the people of the city are doing. I am a romantic, adventurer and professional traveler. For me, being at sea is not difficult, but getting some kind of certificate from the Housing Office is an ordeal.

Going shopping and seeing mountains of food is an unbearable experience. I’m used to catching fish on my own and cooking it right away, drinking desalinated sea water, eating only rice or not eating at all for days.

I know how to organize an expedition and sail a yacht around the world, how to cook flying fish sashimi, and how to get around Moscow to the State Duma or the Kremlin

Palace of Congresses - I don’t know. Although he received some awards and certificates there.

My home in Moscow is a workshop from the Union of Artists. There is a table for drawing, paints, brushes, a computer that my wife uses, and a small bedroom where Irina and I live and two old turtles.

Doesn't your wife dream of a different, beautiful life? Gifts, diamonds, couture dresses?

I can give her a yacht trip on the Atlantic. Moreover, she will come with me not as a tourist, but as a crew member. And she made such romantic trips with me several times. As for outfits, when marrying a wanderer, she was aware of what kind of life awaited her. We have a house-building. I don’t allow my wife to wear trousers or wear makeup. She had to give up secular life, and it happened very easily - we are so similar in our desire to get closer to God, in whom we both believe. Just don’t think that we are religious, religion is politics. And faith is from the heart. But Irina wears Parisian clothes. We go there often and I choose the things myself. Once we were looking for a simple long white skirt almost all day. Everyone was offering some kind of nonsense in this “trendsetter” country.

My wife has her own interesting life. She is a professor, doctor of legal sciences, and teacher.

Writes books. She doesn't need much either. We've never been to a restaurant - it's boring. I don’t see her for six months, and during this time so many interesting things happen in her and my life that we can’t stop talking after separation.

Do you have any weaknesses?

I used to be vain. Once I almost agreed to appear on the cover of Playboy. I was proud that I was invited. Now it’s embarrassing to remember this. Several years ago, he did not refuse an interview to anyone, he let random people into his house, he opened his soul to them. I still love being the center of attention.

I love candies and cakes. My wife always supplies me with sweets on expeditions, so I eat everything at once and don’t even bring it to the yacht.

You don't live off your salary. Where does the money for travel come from?

Money, like pieces of paper, is worthless.

Money is energy. They come when there is an idea. And the more interesting it is for a large number of people, the more powerful the cash flows.

My first trips cost one hundred and two hundred dollars. I was young, unknown and risking my life to fulfill my childhood dream. At the age of seven, my grandfather, who served with the famous polar explorer Georgy Sedov, hung a cross on my neck, given to him by Sedov. From then on, I was not interested in anything else in life except travel. The 40 expeditions I completed in teams and alone brought me into the elite of world-famous travelers. I, as they say, went ahead and tried to take part in such yacht races or ascents that the Russians simply did not get into. This is how I gained authority. Arrogance and fearlessness. He climbed inaccessible peaks and died there from hunger and fear.

What is the most important thing for a person? Life. So I put it on the map. I didn’t go for money or fame, but in order to understand myself - what I needed. Confession, repentance, freedom? Freedom for what? For creativity. I have earned the right to write books and pictures like no one else will write them. Because I see other things with heightened vision. You can say that I am writing there on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But not under the influence of wine or drugs, which, in general, is normal for creative people, but from a hopeless longing for home, land and ordinary life, into which something is not letting me in yet. Haven't arrived yet.

Although after each trip I declare that it is my last and I will not take any more risks. If God gives me the opportunity to see the world, I have not yet exhausted the risk limit. My latest yacht is one of the largest in the world. When I first saw her in France, I thought: I’ll definitely go to the Atlantic with her. Such a huge vessel, together with the mast, is almost as tall as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I started dreaming about this yacht at night. I was involved in other projects - I walked camels along the Great

The Silk Road, crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat along the route of Christopher Columbus, but did not forget about the maxi-yacht that he saw in Les Sables de Olonne.

Huge amounts of money were needed for it. Finding them for travel is not easy. I really love Buddhist sayings, and I remember one of them for the rest of my life: “Traveler, I am glad to meet you, I am glad to see how firmly you are walking. You know what you are looking for, and we can help you.” If you have a precise goal and it is interesting to others, they will be happy to meet you and help you. You need to know where and why you are going.

I found this money! And when I showed my yacht to different people in the photo, an army of rich people appeared who also wanted to participate in this project and place the names of their companies on board. Because this is accepted all over the world and now we have a different Russia.

At the age of 53, you became a member of the Union of Writers of the Russian Federation and the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation. Why do you need these titles?

I learned how to earn money. With these titles, it’s probably better to sell your work.

My books and paintings bring in a small income. I used it to build a chapel in the courtyard of a workshop in the center of Moscow. This chapel is in honor of all my fallen traveler friends.

I carved their names on boards and hung them inside the temple. I fulfilled the vow I made to myself in the Atlantic during the storm. Then my wife and I almost died.

Or he could put this money in the bank, wait for the interest to accrue on it, and then buy something. I just don't know what. I have everything I need - a wife, four children and a drawing table. In my opinion, money is simply an advance given to us by God, and our task is to decide for what purposes it will be used - good or bad. We must live today and now. There is no point in saving for the future. In my case it's completely stupid.

Every time I go into the ocean, I risk staying there.

Tatiana Kalashnikova

Now I am on the west coast of Australia, where Fedor Konyukhov is finishing preparations for his next record-breaking venture. This time, the 64-year-old traveler decided to fly around the world in a MORTON balloon alone and without landing on the ground.
Before this, only one person in the world was able to make such a journey, but only on the sixth attempt. American billionaire Steve Fossett circled the Earth in 13 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes in 2002. Konyukhov’s team does not set a goal to break the time record, but plans to fly around the world on the first try.
The launch of the flight is planned to take place literally within a week and these days the final tests are being carried out with trial runs of various systems. This, of course, is not an airplane, but still... There is a lot of different equipment, and you need to check it here on the ground.
Yesterday I watched with my own eyes the rollout of a gondola from a hangar in the town of Northam, where preparations for the expedition and test ignition of gas burners are underway, today they set up the autopilot and communication systems with air traffic controllers...
In general, in the coming days I will talk about preparations for this unique trip around the world.
Today is the first post in which I will show spectacular photos of the ignition of burners against the backdrop of the Australian sunset and talk about the travel project itself. And the next posts will be more technical and in detail.

2. This is the gondola of Fyodor's balloon. Surely all of you, when you hear about a hot air balloon, imagine a wicker basket, but certainly not a carbon cube, more like a bathyscaphe than a gondola.
But in the case of a round-the-world flight, and even a non-stop one, a wicker basket is out of the question.
The fact is that the planned journey will take from 13 to 15 days, you will have to fly 33-35 thousand meters and all this at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers. You understand that not a single person can withstand two weeks at temperatures from -30 to -60 degrees, and even at extreme altitudes for life. At the same time, you also control the balloon, maneuver in air currents, conduct intensive radio exchanges with air traffic controllers, eat, sleep, etc....
I will tell you about the gondola itself in one of the following reports, because... she deserves special attention, you understand.

3. The very idea of a round-the-world flight around the Earth was born to Fyodor Konyukhov a long time ago, almost 20 years ago, when Richard Branson in 1997 made a unique flight at that time, first across the Atlantic and then across the Pacific Ocean.
Then in 2002 there was Stephen Fossett, who made 5 unsuccessful attempts to fly around the world and only succeeded 6 times. But in those years, Fedor and his still young team did not have serious sponsors and support, and a budget of a million dollars looked simply unrealistic, so for many years the idea remained just an idea on Konyukhov’s wish list.
The implementation of the flight project began two years ago, immediately after Fedor crossed the Pacific Ocean. He then finished in Australia, and journalists asked: what is the next project? Konyukhov replied that he wanted to return to Australia, but with a new project of flying around the world in a hot air balloon. He finished in May, and already in July Fedor and his son Oscar, who is the head of staff of all the traveler’s latest expeditions, and one of the sponsors flew to Bristol, where they held the first negotiations with Cameroon Balloons, almost the only company in the world that is capable of building a balloon for such a project.

4. The first year the negotiations were quite difficult, the budget was very large - almost 2.5 million dollars and it was necessary to find really serious sponsors for it. After all, the same Fossett, even being a billionaire, in his last and successful project enlisted the support of the beer giant Budvaiser, and the round-the-world flight of Bertrand Picard with Brian Jones in 1999 in the northern hemisphere was sponsored by the famous watch brand Breitling.
A year ago, Fyodor Konyukhov’s project received such a sponsor. It turned out to be the Moscow company Morton - one of the largest development companies in Russia. Moreover, Fyodor’s acquaintance with its leader, Alexander Ruchev, who, like Fyodor, comes from Pomor descent, turned out to be decisive. And so it happened that one Pomor helped another Pomor realize his old dream in a hot air balloon, which was named MORTON, after the name of Ruchev’s company and the name of the northern wind...

5. Other companies did not stand aside: Toyota provided Toyota Hilux cars, first in Russia during preparation and training flights, and then in Australia as official cars for the round-the-world trip to transport the balloon to the launch site, technical equipment and other purposes during preparation expeditions, the Breitling company, which manufactured a special watch with a radio beacon for Fedor, Iridium, which provided satellite communications, 1 channel and 1 educational channel, providing information support, the Russian Geographical Society and others...

6. It took exactly 9 months to build the ball and gondola, the same as it took to bear a child. Every month Fedor and Oscar flew to England to supervise the process of building the balloon and gondola, preparing technical equipment, etc.
In early June, the finished balloon and basket were transported by another sponsor, the TNT company, from Bristol to Perth, Australia, and then to the city of Northam, where Cameroon Balloons technicians assembled the gondola, installed a large set of equipment, and in shifts set it up and instructed Fedor, who During the flight he will be alone in the cockpit and assistance can only be provided to him by radio.

7. Today two Cameroon Balloons technicians are with us in Northam completing the final setup of the systems.
One of them is in the photo. This incredibly cool guy is Pete Johnson. He is the company's leading engineer and personally climbed in a hot air balloon in Canada to a height of 10 thousand meters, testing a balloon that was being built to fly over Everest. Moreover, in an open wicker basket!
They say that pilots of airplanes flying nearby that day, seeing a practically motionless transponder, could not understand what kind of flying object it was at an altitude of 10 kilometers. And when they heard “Flight Balloons” in response to a request, they were shocked, not believing their ears...

8. This is what the flight route will look like.
Starting from Northam, Australia, then flying over the most difficult zone with very dense air traffic in Melbourne and Adelaide, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and finishing again in Northam.
When asked why the start was from Australia, Fedor Konyukhov answered the following:
- It’s more convenient to take off, of course, from the Sahara Desert. But in the northern hemisphere you will have to cross the airspace of Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan... It is difficult to obtain permission from them and there is no guarantee that you will not be shot down even if you have visas and documents. And having risen in Australia, I will fly over the oceans; I will have to cross the territory of five countries in total: Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and South Africa. Below are the “roaring forties”, on the right is Antarctica and the polar nights, on the left is the equator. There is also a symbolic moment: “Morton” is the name of my balloon - in the language of the Pomors it is the north wind. And so he will fly in the southern hemisphere, which cannot happen in nature...

9. The start of the flight was planned for June 25, but has been postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions.
It’s winter in Australia now, it’s been raining all the time in recent days, which excludes the possibility of unfolding and inflating a giant balloon (it’s 56 meters high, I’ll tell you about it separately). The balloon will get wet, and at an altitude of 5 km it will become icy, just as all the complex systems outside the gondola will become icy, and this is unacceptable. In addition, the winds are not blowing very well at the balloon’s flight altitude right now...
In general, the team continues testing and waits for the weather window, closely interacting with Australian and Belgian meteorologists.

Follow the evening posts, everything new and interesting about the preparation of Fedor Konyukhov’s expedition and its start will appear here every day.

Fedor Konyukhov,

63 years old, Russia

“I was not born for an easy life, but to enjoy it through overcoming difficulties”

The most famous Russian traveler told what is important to him in life.

Fedor Konyukhov - traveler, yachtsman, mountaineer, polar explorer. He already holds several world records: he crossed the Pacific Ocean, reached the North Pole, and conquered Everest. And in March of this year I took a new level, this time - . Together with Ivan Menyailo, he flew 19 hours and 10 minutes, which is a record time for Russia.

“My Planet” presents several statements by Fyodor Konyukhov about the world, family, people and creativity, published in the book “My Travels”.

I am romantic, seeker of adventures. For me, being at sea for a long time will not be difficult, since I love it almost like a beloved woman. I want to circumnavigate the globe three times without visiting any ports, but I am not aiming for any records. I want to be in the ocean alone with the winds and restless waves, talk with the birds and animals that inhabit the oceans, feel the rotation of the Earth and read morning and evening prayers every day, looking at the rising and setting sun. That's what pulls me on this giant journey.

For reasons unknown to me I was not born for an easy life, but to enjoy it through overcoming difficulties.

Many imagine that a person comes out into the world God's only in the hospital, where the smell of camphor and all sorts of medicines. So it turns out that the baby - a helpless angel - fills his lungs with this stench. My mother gave birth to me to the sound of the surf, my chest was immediately filled with clean salty air. And my slightly opened eyes saw the sun rising from the depths of the sea.

Something in the world is changing at great speed, but something stands still. We have stepped forward in computers, but oxygen masks have not changed at all.

In difficult moments I tell myself: “Well, Fedor, are you ready? Naomi Uemura had it harder.” I often repeat these words. After all, Uemura is an ideal for us travelers; he constantly affirmed the “spirit of man.” This man had restraint and inner strength, he said: “Death is not an option for me. I must return to where they want me - home, to my wife.” And he added: “I will definitely come back, because I need to be fed at least sometimes.”

For many people of our Earth The North Pole is simply a geographical point. For me, this is a word-symbol with the help of which I look for the key to those secrets that have long tormented travelers.

When I approached the North Pole, my heart was filled with gratitude to him. Traveling across the ocean taught me to rely only on my own strength and defeat myself. The trans-Arctic expedition required not only physical strength, but also mental balance and patience.

Going on a solo hike to the North Pole, I devoted a lot of time and effort to preparing equipment, food, and navigation. There was no time left for physical training. I understood that I could only rely on my polar experience and my own strength. And I also relied on the “sixth sense” and on the Lord God. I knew that I could pay with my life for this insolence. Anyone who decides to go to the pole must know the limits of his capabilities, the maximum load on the heart. You also need to believe in your success and destiny, that it is you who are destined to reach the top of the earth.

Many people think that an artist creates paintings sitting in a warm workshop. Not everyone is like this! I receive my graphic sheets differently, my works are events that I have experienced and felt, these are my thoughts, my perception of the environment.

People busy with worldly affairs, usually look at each other, delve into other people's lives, judge or try to change the lives of loved ones and never try to look at themselves from the outside. And solo travel gave me this opportunity.

Everything in the world should be beautiful, and it’s not a sin to look at beauty. The names of cities and things should be beautiful.

I pray to God give me strength and health, and most of all, courage for this journey. And then you can die in peace, knowing that in this world, on this beautiful Earth where I had to live, I did what everyone should do - raise the bar of human abilities even higher than it was raised by my predecessors.

The childhood of Fyodor Konyukhov

Fyodor Filippovich Konyukhov was born on the shores of the Azov Sea in the Ukrainian village of Chkalovo, Zaporozhye region, into an ordinary peasant family. The father of the future traveler, Philip Mikhailovich, came from a family of Arkhangelsk Pomor fishermen, and his mother, Maria Efremovna, was a native of Bessarabia.

The family was large - three sons and two daughters. From early childhood, Fedor got used to hard rural work in the fields and gardens. The father fished in the Sea of Azov and often took his son with him. Fedor happily served as helmsman and helped pull out the nets. Konyukhov’s father fought in the Great Patriotic War, reached Budapest with Soviet troops and often shared stories with his children related to the military part of his biography.

Konyukhov was also told many interesting things by his grandfather Mikhail, a lieutenant colonel in the tsarist army. Mikhail Konyukhov served in the same garrison with Senior Lieutenant Georgy Sedov, the famous Russian polar explorer. Shortly before his last expedition to the North Pole, which ended in tragedy, Georgy Sedov left Mikhail Konyukhov with a pectoral cross with a request to give it to the strongest and bravest of the children who could reach the Pole. Fyodor Konyukhov had a chance to fulfill Sedov’s will - he visited the North Pole three times, one of which reached the extreme point of the planet alone, with Sedov’s cross on his neck.

Fyodor had a thirst for travel, especially sea travel, from early childhood. Standing at the helm of a fishing boat, Fedor peered into the Azov distance and dreamed of visiting the opposite bank of Azov. At the age of fifteen, he made his first expedition - he crossed the Sea of Azov on a rowing boat alone. I prepared for this for several years - I devoted almost all my free time to rowing, sailing and swimming. He was also actively involved in football and athletics, and slept in the hayloft almost all year round. Fyodor also loved to read and voraciously “swallowed” books by Jules Verne, Stanyukovich, Goncharov and other marine writers and travelers.

Fedor Konyukhov set a new record

Education and service of Fedor Konyukhov

Already in his senior year, Konyukhov realized that the sea was his calling. After graduating from school, there were no questions about where to go - Konyukhov went to the Odessa Naval School (specialty ship mechanic). Fedor did not stop there and entered the Leningrad Polar School, receiving a second specialty upon graduation - navigator. Fedor served in the Baltic Fleet in the Kaliningrad region. During his service, as a result of one of the conflict incidents with senior soldiers, Fedor ends up in a guardhouse, from where a captain of the third rank, who selected the most courageous sailors for special forces, takes him to Vietnam. For two and a half years, Fedor served as a sailor on a boat in a special detachment whose task was to supply ammunition to the Viet Cong.

After the service, Fedor graduated from vocational school No. 15 in the city of Bobruisk in Belarus, specializing in inlay carving.

Arctic expeditions of Fedor Konyukhov

Expeditionary research activities began in 1977. This year Fedor is organizing a passage on a sailing yacht along the route of Vitus Bering in the North Pacific Ocean. Being a patriot, the explorer sought to reproduce all the conditions in which our compatriots, more than three hundred years ago, sailed on fragile boats, discovered islands and bays, explored America and founded settlements there.

Then there were expeditions pursuing similar goals - Kamchatka, Sakhalin Island, Commanders. Fedor spent a long time in Chukotka, mastering the science of dog sledding, building ice huts and surviving in extreme polar conditions. By this time, the goal was set - to reach the North Pole alone. Preparation for the expedition took several years. The unprecedented journey was preceded by a ski trip to the Pole of relative inaccessibility during the polar night, participation in the Canadian expedition to Baffin Island, the trans-Antarctic Soviet-Canadian ski expedition USSR - Pole - Canada, the first autonomous expedition to the North Pole "Arctic" as part of the group of V. Chukov. Thus, by the time he began his own solo forced march, Konyukhov had already visited the North Pole twice.

In 1990, having gained sufficient experience in polar research, Fedor set off to his cherished goal on skis. In addition to the heavy backpack, the traveler was towing a sledge with provisions and equipment. Fedor slept right on the ice in a tent and sleeping bag. The path was difficult - constantly had to overcome hummocks and ice holes, but Konyukhov was steadily approaching the Pole. 200 km before the cherished goal, Fedor almost repeated the fate of Georgy Sedov - during ice hummocking, the traveler almost died. However, on the 72nd day of the journey, Fedor still reached the North Pole, becoming the first person in the world to make such a journey alone. It was then that Konyukhov fulfilled Sedov’s will.

Antarctic expedition

Konyukhov's next goal was the South Pole. In 1995, the brave explorer went on a solo expedition to Antarctica, eventually reaching the extreme southern point of the planet on the 59th day of the trip and planting the Russian flag there. While moving towards the Pole, Konyukhov conducted a number of studies: measuring the natural radiation field of Antarctica, the physical state of the body in extreme conditions of high altitude (above 5 thousand m), lack of oxygen, strong winds and low temperatures.

As a result of the expedition, Konyukhov wrote several scientific papers that made an invaluable contribution to the development of polar science. For his research activities and scientific works after this expedition, Konyukhov was accepted as an honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society.

Climbing

It is not only the circumpolar regions that attract the attention of the intrepid explorer. Having visited the South Pole, Fedor completed the “Grand Slam” program - visiting the North and South Pole and Mount Everest. Konyukhov became the first Russian to complete the Grand Slam.

The history of Konyukhov’s ascents under the “Seven Summits of the World” program begins in 1992, when the traveler single-handedly conquered the highest point in Europe - Mount Elbrus. In the same year, together with Evgeny Vinogradsky, Fedor climbed Everest, the highest point in Asia and the planet. As part of his Antarctic expedition, on January 19, 1996, the researcher conquered the highest point of the southern continent - the Wilson Massif. In March of the same year, the climber climbed Aconcagua alone in South America, and in 1997 he completed the program with a solo ascent of the Kilimanjaro volcano in Africa, the Australian Kosciuszko Peak and, together with Vladimir Yanochkin, conquered the most difficult peak - the North American Mount McKinley.

In 2012, Konyukhov once again climbed Everest as part of the Russian team that climbed Chomolungma to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the first conquest of Everest by a Soviet mountaineering team.

Land expeditions

In 1981, Fyodor Konyukhov crossed Chukotka on a dog sled in preparation for conquering the North Pole. Preparing for the polar march, Fedor chose between two transportation options - skis and dog sled. As a result, he recognized skiing as more promising. In 1985, Fedor organized a walking expedition along the route of the famous taiga explorers V. Arsenyev and Dersu Uzala.

In the summer and autumn of 1989, Konyukhov supervised the joint Soviet-American bicycle ride across the USSR Nakhodka - Moscow - Leningrad. The second run from Nakhodka to the capital of Russia, this time on SUVs, Russian-Australian, took place in the summer of 1991. In 2002, Fyodor Konyukhov organized the first camel caravan expedition in Russian history following the Great Silk Road in Kalmykia, Dagestan, Astrakhan, Volgograd regions and Stavropol Territory. In 2009, the expedition continued - the second stage of the research took place along the route Kalmykia - Mongolia.

Sea expeditions and trips around the world

Sea travel occupies the largest part of Konyukhov’s research activities. Fedor made more than forty unique sea expeditions, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 17 times alone, and once on a rowing boat in autonomous mode in 46 days, setting an absolute world record. Fedor traveled around the world six times. One of these trips on a yacht took place non-stop, non-stop. There were also “serious”, according to the traveler, adventures - during one of the trips around the world, Fedor became seriously ill and was hospitalized in the Philippines. At this time, pirates stole his yacht to a neighboring island. To return the ship, Konyukhov had to temporarily become a sea robber himself - he stole a boat from drunken pirates in order to return his yacht. Fedor is a regular participant and winner of extreme marine races on sailing and rowing vessels.

Creation

In his travels, Fedor is engaged not only in research activities. He draws and writes books. In total, more than 3 thousand paintings came out of his brush. Since 1983, Konyukhov has been a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. At the time of his admission to the Union of Artists he was the youngest member of the USSR Union of Artists. Fedor is also a member of the Moscow Union of Artists and Sculptors and is an honorary academician of the Russian Academy of Arts. Based on the results of his expeditions, Fedor wrote nine books. Konyukhov is a member of the Writers' Union and the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation.

Fedor Konyukhov. Arctic 2013. Prelude

Religious rank

On May 22, 2010, Fyodor Konyukhov received the rank of subdeacon of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Konyukhov was ordained subdeacon by Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine. After being ordained, Fedor began to devote less time to travel and expeditions, but did not stop this activity completely. In December 2010, in Zaporozhye, Konyukhov, who by that time had graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, was ordained a priest and sent to serve in the Zaporozhye diocese.

Family of Fedor Konyukhov

Fedor Konyukhov is married to Irina Anatolyevna Konyukhova, professor, Doctor of Law. They have three children - a common son Nikolai, Fyodor's eldest son Oscar and daughter Tatyana - children from their first marriage. Oscar Konyukhov also travels, goes in for sailing, and is the executive director of the Sailing Federation of the Russian Federation.

Fyodor has six grandchildren - Polina, Philip, Arkady, Ethan, Blake and Kate.

Fedor Konyukhov returned safely to earth after successfully completing his round-the-world flight. It was an incredible event for everyone who was directly or indirectly related to it.

Flight highlights:

Fedor set an absolute world record for a balloon, flying around the globe in a record time: 11 days 5 hours 11 minutes or 269 hours 11 minutes.

The previous record of American pilot Steve Fossett: 320 hours 33 minutes was beaten by 51 hours and 22 minutes.

Total time in the air (until landing): 11 days 8 hours 43 minutes or 272 hours 43 minutes.

Second achievement: the total distance between the starting and ending points of the route is 34,977.36 km.

Steve Fossett's previous record was 33,195.1 km.

All calculations are preliminary and are subject to study and approval.FAI.

The third achievement, which is not recorded in the FAI book of records, but is of great importance - Fedor Konyukhov became the first person in the world to successfully fly around the world in a hot air balloon on the first try. It took Steve Fossett 6 tries.

Fedor is the first aeronaut to fly in a hot air balloon back to the same airfield from which the flight began. This is probably the most remarkable achievement of the flight and is unlikely to ever be repeated.

Fedor dedicated his flight to Steve Fossett.

Of course, such a flight required the participation of many other people to be successful.

The expeditionary headquarters of Fedor Konyukhov thanks:

The general sponsor of the flight is a group of companies MORTON for believing in the project, the team and the driver. It took Fyodor Konyukhov 10 years to get funding for this flight. Only a meeting with the president of MORTON Group, Alexander Valerievich Ruchev, gave the project the necessary impetus. The round-the-world flight of the MORTON balloon was organized at the expense of private companies; the main financial burden was assumed by the MORTON Group of Companies.

The MORTON Group of Companies is a leading Russian developer, which in 2016 will celebrate 22 years of successful work. The company specializes in the construction of large-scale residential microdistricts in Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region. The total current portfolio of projects of MORTON Group of Companies at the beginning of 2016 exceeded 8.3 million square meters. m of housing, and the total number of objects reached 42. More about the company: http://www.morton.ru/kompaniya/

Open Sea Foundation for Cultural and Educational Programs and its president Mikhail Simonyan.

Company "CameronBalloons" ("Cameron's Balloons"), Don Cameron (DonCameron) and his entire team.

Cameron Balloons made the balloon in Bristol, England. Alan Noble managed and promoted the project along with Don Cameron, Dave Boxall, Pete Johnson, Andy Skirrow, Chris Lachenicht, Simon Whatley and Adrian Keel. Adrian Keeley), who flew to Australia to organize the launch of the MORTON balloon.

John Wallington (JohnWallington)

The Australian project manager secured permission for the flight and organized Australian logistics. During the flight, he worked as a specialist in the flight control center and assisted the head of the MCC, Oscar Konyukhov, in decision making and flight planning.

Meteorologist David Dehenau(David Dehenauw) – Chief Meteorologist / Head of Marine Forecast Section Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI/KMI/IRM), whose trajectories, forecasts, warnings and recommendations provided such a sensational result and successful implementation of the project.

For instructors who trained and prepared Fedor Konyukhov for the flight: Ivan Menyailo(Russia), Giovani Aimo(Italy), Wilhelm Emers(Germany)

Gas supplier - Supagaz (Supagas)

Uninterrupted supplies of helium, ethane, propane and liquid oxygen were ensured by Supagas. Their specialists Doug Maclaughlan and Erol Arican were directly at the site of filling the cylinders and filling the balloon with helium.

Dick Smith (DickSmith)

Fedor’s longtime friend and sponsor, who introduced him to the Cameron Balloons company, and now organized the necessary helicopter to help with landing, and also supported everyone with his inexhaustible enthusiasm.

Grena Putlanda (GrenPutland) organizing local logistics and attracting many volunteers, whose help was invaluable during preparations for the launch.

Claude Menier (ClaudeMeunier) for providing a hangar for preparing equipment for flight and for packing equipment after completion of the flight.

Anton Parfenov and Yakov Orlov for the enormous assistance and round-the-clock duty at the control center in Northam during the flight.

Andrey Abrosimov, Galina Abrosimova for assistance in organizing the work of our team in Australia and attracting volunteers from among our compatriots.

Alexey Vikulov, translator and guide for professional assistance in translating instructions on the balloon’s fuel system, for translating press releases, as well as for working with friends and sponsors who came to Australia to support Fedor before the start.

Northam District Administration and Residents for tremendous local support, including permission to use the airfield.

Russian community in Perth and Western Australia.

Australian Air Traffic Control (AirservicesAustralia). Air traffic controllers were always ready to accommodate when the balloon passed through the airspace they controlled.

Federation of Australian Balloonists and Civil Aviation Safety Authority ( TheAustralianBalloonFederationandTheCivilAviationSafetyAuthority) for flight permissions provided.

World Air Ops ("WorldAirOps") for receiving permission to fly through the airspace of 4 South American countries following a request made just a few hours before the flight.