The Two Eagles Balloon Team had a record to break. Actually, they had two. Could they fly a helium balloon farther than anyone had before? Could they stay in the air for the longest amount of time?

Yes! They did it! The two pilots, Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, flew all the way across the Pacific Ocean in a helium-filled balloon. They started in Japan. When they landed in Mexico, a huge crowd welcomed them.

Landing was the hardest part of the trip. Mr. Bradley had planned to land smoothly on the Mexico beach. Instead, the balloon landed in the water. But both fliers got to shore safely.

The old balloon record for flight-length was set in 1978. Three men flew across the Atlantic Ocean. It took 132 hours. The old record for distance was set in 1981, when a balloon crew flew 5,209 miles. The Two Eagles Balloon Team easily beat both records. They traveled 6,646 miles. It took them six days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes.

Mr. Bradley had been planning the journey for 15 years. That’s no surprise. Wouldn’t you want to plan carefully if you were going to float across an entire ocean?

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.” —Proverbs 21:5