Everyone objected when they learned that Ortiz and Penelope were going to fly the hot air balloon alone.
Including hot air balloon pilot Alex, and pod design engineer Pelle.
"There will be problems if you do this," Pell warned. "As long as an accident occurs along the way, it is not a trivial matter."
"This is not something that two people can accomplish," driver Alex reminded. "It requires the cooperation of four people to complete this adventure."
Ortiz shook his head, “During the previous training, I discovered that four people are not needed, two people will do;
My original job was to take pictures, but now I can fix the mirrorless camera in the pod and be responsible for driving. "
"I take on the work of an engineer," Penelope shrugged helplessly, "Pell, your job doesn't look difficult, I can do it."
The sponsor insists that the driver and engineer can only withdraw temporarily.
When the last moment came, Ortiz and Penelope, wearing parachutes, climbed down the iron ladder into the pod.
At this moment, Ortiz suddenly hesitated. He didn't know whether he would set foot on land or water next time.
Putting his thoughts aside, Ortiz sat next to the main controller.
10, 9, 8, 7...
The countdown started, and Penello, who was sitting next to the trap door, felt very nervous. She quickly groped down with her hands to check whether the parachute buckle was buckled properly.
Everything is fine.
Then she raised her head and looked at the huge balloon above her head, and looked left and right at the four large fuel tanks tied around the pod. She forced herself to temporarily forget that the responsibility of an engineer was on her shoulders.
Wait until you successfully fly into the sky.
The countdown was over, and Ortiz, determined to take the risk, pushed the lever, loosened the bolt, and cut the anchor cable.
Quietly, the hot air balloon took off gently.
Quickly up in the air, there was no whir of a burner because of the new equipment.
This made Penelope feel reassured and safe, and she cheered, "We succeeded!" 33
Ortiz nodded while controlling the hot air balloon to fly higher and farther, making the people and buildings on the ground smaller and smaller.
When the hot air balloon flies to 3,000 meters, the temperature becomes colder and the air becomes thinner, followed by normal flight time.
Zhang Jing soon received photos from the "spy", showing them riding a hot air balloon high in the sky.
Hot air ballooning is one of the popular attractions in Istanbul and is relatively safe.
So Zhang Jing didn't worry too much and just let them play.
Then the accident happened quickly and suddenly.
Less than two hours after departure, engineer Pell sent a message from the ground to remind, 'The connector of the fuel tank has been locked, please be careful. '
This made Ortiz and Penelope feel cold.
They knew it because they had flown and practiced many times beforehand.
Minus the lead, the six-hundred-pound fuel tank doubles as ballast, and its connectors should be opened before departure.
If you encounter trouble midway and the balloon descends uncontrollably, you can throw away one or two fuel tanks after throwing away the lead weights.
As for whether it would kill someone, that was not something she and she should consider. After all, the probability was too low.
"We have to get down to 1,600 meters," Ortiz decided, "and then I can climb out and open the lock."
In the end, Ortiz emphasized, "This is just a minor issue."
"We can't go down now, we need to wait until night," Penelope said, "The sun is heating the helium,"
Ortiz understood that the only way to lose altitude during the day was to release helium.
However, once the helium is released, it cannot be recovered, causing greater losses.
There was another problem. During the pre-rehearsal, they had not lowered their altitude at night, let alone climbed outside the pod.
At high altitude, the atmosphere in the pod was somewhat depressing.
After a while, Penelope spoke, "After the sun goes down, it would be better for me to climb out. After all, I am an engineer."
"Fake engineer," Ortiz immediately retorted, "Besides, you are tall and heavy. It would be more appropriate for you to help me pull the safety rope in the pod."
The cabin fell silent again.
Considering that the hot air balloon moves at about 100 kilometers per hour, coupled with the unstable airflow, Penelope reminded, "You are a princess."
"It's long gone," Ortiz, who looks like Hepburn, shook his head. "We are both ordinary people and have the same boyfriend."
When it comes to Zhang Jing, Ortiz half-complained and half-lively said, "That bastard makes my throat hoarse every time."
"Me too," Penelope smiled, "my cheeks are always sore."
Ortiz asked, "Then why are you still with him?"
"Relaxed, happy, humorous, no worries," Penelope counted the advantages of being with Zhang Jing on her fingers. "You won't worry about my property. There is a high probability that another man will not be better than him."
"Really?" Ortiz said teasingly, "Are you sure it wasn't the source of your yelling?"
"Do you think he's big too?" Penelope chatted, "I've seen action movies, and he seems to be different."
Ortiz's last strike, "It's like 2.2 high-intensity power, but also supercharged with T."
"Yes, there is also the dizziness + hypoxia buff..."
The two of them got more and more excited as they chatted, completely forgetting about their troubles.
But the trouble would not disappear. When the time came to 5 p.m., in order to increase the ability to deal with more troubles, Ortiz first lowered the height of the balloon to 1,600 meters.
He resolutely climbed out of the pod and successfully manually opened the connector of the locked fuel tank.
Fortunately, when the time came to seven o'clock in the evening, even though the burner was turned on, the hot air balloon continued to descend.
As the sun's rays completely disappeared, the pod became colder and colder, and the helium gas contracted rapidly.
The balloon dropped from 1,600 meters to 1,000 meters, and then continued to drop to 300 meters.
During this process, Ortiz and Penelope developed severe ringing in their ears, and their stomachs rolled upward and pressed against their chests.
Although all the lead weights have been thrown away, the hot air balloon is still descending, and in the blink of an eye it is only 160 meters away from the sea.
"We have to lose both fuel tanks at once!"
Penelope's voice was trembling. One more second of hesitation would be one second closer to death.
Ortiz didn't want to lose it. He hadn't reached the middle of the Mediterranean yet and was still more than half the distance from Tunisia.
But neither she nor she had a choice. The hot air balloon they were sitting in was like a free-falling bomb, falling very fast!
Ortiz yanked the lever and dropped both fuel tanks.
At this time, if you had not opened the connector of the fuel tank before and missed the optimal skydiving height, you would basically die.
The balloon bumped and suddenly stopped falling. Penelope felt as if the elevator had hit the ground, and she was deeply seated for an instant.
"We are rising," Ortiz looked at the altimeter and kept reporting, "200 meters, 250 meters, 300 meters..."
When the altitude reaches 1,000 meters, the balloon returns to the night sky again.
At this time, Penelope's shirt was already soaked with cold sweat. After surviving the disaster, she drew a cross on her chest and said, "The God of Wealth bless me."
Some people died, but not completely...
