Overjoyed Fossett floats into the record books

Barring any last-minute hiccups, the adventurous American millionaire Steve Fossett will touch down on the barren scrub of the Australian Outback today after becoming the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon.

Fossett was high above the icy waters of the Southern Ocean when he crossed the finish line, 117 degrees longitude, in darkness last night. "It is a wonderful time for me," the Chicago investment tycoon said by satellite telephone, jubilant at cracking one of aviation's last unaccomplished feats. "Finally, after six flights, I have succeeded, and it is a very satisfying experience."

Fossett, 58, flew around the world in 13 days, propelled by high-altitude jetstreams, after taking off from the West Australian town of Denham last month. He spent the 19,263-mile voyage in a cramped capsule, an oxygen mask clamped to his face, removing it only to take spoonfuls of his sparse, military-style rations.

His mission control in St Louis, Missouri, said he would drift across Australia until he found a safe place to land his silver balloon, Spirit of Freedom. That was expected to be the Nullarbor Plain, a vast, desolate limestone plateau bordering the southern coast. Ground crew had a helicopter on stand-by in case he came down elsewhere.

Applause broke out at mission control last night, but Fossett was waiting to make landfall before celebrating. "I do have a few bottles of Bud Light [the beer company that sponsored him] but I'm saving it for the landing," he said. "There's no one here to drink it with. That's the nature of solo flights." Fossett had already received a congratulatory call from fellow balloonists Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and the Englishman Brian Jones, who, in March 1999, became the first pair to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. The pair covered 25,361 miles in slightly more than 15 days, travelling over the northern hemisphere.

Taking advantage of prevailing winds, Fossett chose a southern hemisphere route that took him across the South Pacific, past the Easter Islands and over the southern tip of South America. He then dipped under South Africa to fly closer to Antarctica.

The former stockbroker has had previous attempts to make aviation history but failed, sometimes spectacularly. Last August, he ditched on a cattle ranch in Brazil after 12 days in the skies. In 1998, he was lucky to survive when he plunged 29,000ft into the Coral Sea off north-east Australia. On that occasion he set a distance record that he was happy to break on Sunday.

This time, his balloon made a series of dramatic leaps and dives as he crossed the Andes, and high winds almost sent him into the ocean at one point.

But the weather was also on his side. During some recent stretches, "Roaring Forties" winds pushed along his balloon at 200mph, the speed of a racing car. "It's been a real struggle in the past, but this time everything clicked," said Joe Ritchie, head of mission control.

Fossett is already an accomplished speed sailor, as his website reminds visitors; he holds seven official world records.

He also swam the English Channel in 1985, placed 47th in the Iditarod dogsled race in 1992 and took part in the Le Mans 24-hour sports car race.