A FORMER East Lancashire journalist was "flying high" at mission control after directing operations for the round-the-world balloon triumph of Breitling Orbiter 3.

Alan Noble, who was a reporter on the former Evening Star newspaper before it became the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, was flight director for the record-breaking team which completed its historic flight yesterday.

After leaving journalism in the late 1960s, Mr Noble went on to become a business executive in Reading. He is now marketing manager with Bristol firm Cameron Balloons which made the giant Breitling Orbiter which is 180ft taller than Nelson's Column.

The balloon touched down in Egypt after becoming the first to circumnavigate the globe. Mr Noble punched the air in delight at mission control in Geneva when the balloon completed its 26,602-mile journey.

"What is most satisfying is that we have been one of the least glamorous and least rich of the teams that have attempted this feat," he said.

"And while other people can break your records no one else can be first again."

It marked an 18-year battle by Mr Noble, 52, formerly of Rosehill Road, Burnley, to break the record.

In 1981 he fell foul of the authorities when he was told his £500,000 venture to travel the globe in a balloon would not count because of the rules covering take off and landing points.

The previous year his team took a balloon to Colorado in the United States and went up to 55,000ft, 10 miles high and 2,000ft higher than the previous record. But the authorities disputed the record claim because a TV cameraman bailed out of the balloon to record the attempt as he parachuted down.

He was also involved in a failed attempt to make the first balloon crossing of the Atlantic.

Mr Noble, who attended Burnley Grammar School, took up ballooning in 1974 and his expertise was called upon as he helped guide the Breitling's crew around the world, avoiding trouble spots and finding the air currents. Shortly after taking up the sport he explained: "I find it challenging and exciting. Contrary to popular belief a balloon can be controlled to a big extent and doesn't just drift around in the sky."

Flying is in the family. Mr Noble's late father, also called Alan, was a wartime flier and a secretary of the RAF Association in Burnley.

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