AA6DY woke at 8:22 UTC 3:22am CDT on September 9th at Grid IN47QD just west of France. Our altitude is 13,910 meters, 45,600 feet.

We’re moving into a Jetsream over 100 mph, below is the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory showing our projected path over 48 hours.

Looking back one year

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade started on June 9th 2021. After spending the summer researching Pico Balloons.

We launched our first Pico Balloon on September 25th 2021 in Glencoe Illinois, our first failure, Earlier Flights 2021 We came back one week later for our 2nd launch, Michael’s first balloon AA6DY on October 2nd 2021 which flew 376 Km from Central School in Glencoe Illinois to just northeast of Ionia Michigan having flown 7 hours and 45 minutes, our first successful flight.

And now one year later, our 24th Launch

We launched AA6DY for Michael Seedman on September 3rd 2022 at 13:30 UTC from Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, Illinois. After several attempts, we’re finally successful flying a Yokohama Balloon, pre-stretched to 99 inches circumference by Stewart Spies KB9LM, we are now at 13,910 meters altitude.

And today, on September 9th 2022, we celebrate Michael’s birthday, AA6DY, our first balloon to reach 46,000 feet, survive a Hurricane, is on it’s way to France and around the world.

Happy Birthday Michael