INTREPID Swindon-born adventurer David Hempleman-Adams is looking forward to his next holiday a week in America and Europe.

But his method of travel will be less conventional than most as he tries again to fly solo across the Atlantic from west to east in a traditional wicker basket balloon.

David, 46, will attempt the mammoth 3,337-mile journey in a five-tonne Roziere class balloon, similar to the one that failed him last September. He sets off for the launch site in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, determined to smash the solo distance record and earn a place among the world's greatest explorers.

Exactly where he lands is up to the elements, but he hopes it is somewhere in central Europe.

"Unlike climbing or skiing, with ballooning it doesn't matter what equipment or luck I have with the weather, I'm totally at the mercy of the winds," the explorer said.

"Going up in June will give us much longer nights and hopefully we'll use less fuel. And if we do happen to fail again it gives us enough time to plan for another crack in September.

"It would be great to beat the US and get the world record because to be honest, I'd never have been able to live with myself if I hadn't given it another go.

"After the past couple of months I'm definitely not going to do another solo Polar trek, but I'm keen to do more ballooning."

Last year David was just 15 miles from the Atlantic when his control centre in Bath told him to ditch the liquid oxygen, propane gas and helium-laden balloon in Connecticut.

His autopilot had malfunctioned and in spite of wanting to take on the water without the navigational aid he was talked out of the air before crash landing.

During the flight, expected to take around six days, David will be in constant communication with flight controller Dr David Owens in the Bristol-based control centre the same man who last year said he would be "absolutely bonkers" to attempt the Atlantic without an autopilot.

David will have to stay awake for most of the trip.

He added: "Hopefully this time I'll be up in the air shortly after we arrive in America and I'm confident we can do it."

The British solo distance record stands at 2,294 km, and the British solo duration record is 132 hours. David's latest adventure comes just weeks after he successfully walked 300 miles to the Geomagnetic North Pole part of it with a broken ankle.

You can follow the fortunes of David's epic adventure in the Advertiser's daily update.