Penza, 25 January 2016. PenzaNews. The Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov and the master of sports in balloon piloting Ivan Menyaylo, who departed in a hot air balloon of 3,950 cubic meters nearly a full day ago – at 7.55 of Sunday, January 24 – from the Sonino airport of the Tula region, with a potential finish in Mordovia or the Penza region, have beaten the world record.

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The previous world record in hot air ballooning was set by the US balloon pilot William Bussey on 25 January 1993, and stayed unbeaten for 23 years.

The rules of the World Air Sports Federation (FAI) dictate that the new world record must beat the previous one by at least 1%. Fyodor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyaylo successfully achieved that goal, by spending more than 29 hours and 14 minutes afloat in their hot air balloon.

The record-breakers now aim to push their result to the limit, says the official website of Fyodor Konyukhov.

Currently, their hot air balloon is flying past Kovrov town in the Vladimir region, moving towards the Ivanovo region.

The flight course of the hot air balloon is broadcasted online.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, in the morning of Monday, January 25, Fyodor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyaylo beaten the Russian record in hot air ballooning which they set a year ago, when they managed to stay afloat for 19 hours and 10 minutes.