Millionaire balloonist to take off from Argentina
     ST. LOUIS - April 25, 1998 10:22 p.m. ET - Millionaire balloon-
 ist Steve Fossett is planning his fourth attempt at circling the
 globe.
     But this time, the Chicago adventurer will take off from Argen-
 tina rather than downtown St. Louis, where he has launched previous
 attempts. His mission control center will stay at Washington Univer-
 sity in St. Louis though, a spokeswoman at the university said.
     Fossett plans to take off in August and fly northeast over Ar-
 gentina, Paraguay and Brazil before crossing over the Atlantic Ocean
 to the tip of South Africa. Then he plans to fly east, crossing over
 Australia before the final leg over the Pacific Ocean across Chile
 and back into Argentina.
     The route is expected to last about 18 days.
     "He will be flying over water 80 percent of the way, which re-
 sults in more stable wind patterns, said Fossett's chief engineer,
 Tim Cole. "Plus, there will be fewer political and military problems
 because he'll fly over only five countries.''
     Fossett traveled more than 7,000 miles on his last trip before
 he was forced to land in a wheat field in southern Russia. That
 flight ended Jan. 5, about 4 1/2 days after he started. Technical
 and political problems stymied the flight.
     In 1997, Fossett broke the record for longest duration of a
 flight in a hot-air balloon when he flew for six days before landing
 in India. The flight ended when his fuel dwindled, in part because
 Libya did not grant him timely overflight permission.
      His first attempt came in January 1996 and lasted only 36
 hours, cut short by winter storms.
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 Some More about:
               U.S. Balloonist to Make Another Attempt
               9:35 p.m. ET (136 GMT) April 25, 1998
     Fossett, 54, in Stamford, Connecticut, to receive the Pilot of
 the Year Award, said he plans to fly northeast from Mendoza, Argen-
 tina, over Paraguay and Brazil, then cross the Atlantic Ocean,
 swinging south to the tip of South Africa.
     His previous attempts were winter flights aimed to take advantage
 of speedy winds from the northern hemisphere jet stream.
     Fossett has made changes in his balloon. Its envelope will be
 450,000 cubic feet, which will allow him to carry 40 cylinders of
 fuel, and it will have four burners.
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