Olympic Games held In Paris, France in 1900. The two French balloonist Henry de la Vaulx and Georges Castillon de Saint-Victor set world records for distance 1925 km from Paris to Kiev and duration nearly 36 hours.
The Gordon Bennett Balloon Cup held in Geneva in 1922. Old video from the start.
World Meteorological Day was established in 1951 to commemorate the World Meteorological Organization creation on 23th March 1950. This organization announces a slogan for World Meteorological Day every year, and this day is celebrated in all member countries.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), an organization of the United Nations, was created on 23th March 1950 to replace the International Meteorological Organization. It began operations in 1951 to coordinate member nation in the fields of meteorology, operational hydrology, and Earth sciences for the security of their population. The first World Meteorological Day was held on 23th March 1961.
David is the only balloon pilot to have won both the Hot Air and Gas Balloon World Championships and he completed the “triple crown” of ballooning by winning the prestigious Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett in 1992. He has also won the U.S. National Championships in both Gas and Hot Air. Other wins include the 1988 Trans-Australia Balloon Challenge, 1990 Canadian Open National Championship, 1994 Alpine Balloon Trophy in Austria and the 1996 America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race in Albuquerque. His last win was the 2000 America’s Challenge with a flight of 1,998 miles, flying from Albuquerque to Gorham, Maine in 66 hours. David retired from balloon competition after the World Air Games in Seville, Spain in 2001.
On 12 April 1961, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft with Gagarin aboard was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gagarin thus became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the Earth. His call sign was Kedr (Russian: Кедр, Siberian pine or Cedar).
Picture: Time Covers – The 60S, Boris Chaliapin, from the Life.com collection
The radio communication between the launch control room and Gagarin included the following dialogue at the moment of rocket launch: Continue reading
He flew from Torrey Pines, San Diego in California to Waverley, Georgia in 73 hours 20mins, a distance of 2074kms. The balloon was gas balloon Abruzzo GROM-1. Reg. N96YD,landing on February 5th 2003. On the weekend of the flight, the equipment was driven to California from Albuquerque by crewmembers Leonard Saiz and Jeremy Dorcas. They also provided the retrieve for the flight. The sandbags were filled and the system was assembled on Saturday. It all finally came together and the balloon was launched exactly at 12:00 noon PST. Continue reading
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier with Joseph Montgolfier, he was one of six passengers on a second flight on 19 January 1784, with a huge Montgolfier balloon Le Flesselles launched from Lyon. Four French nobles paid for the trip, including a prince.
On January 19, 1784, the largest Montgolfier hot-air balloon ever made, “Le Flesselle,” made an ascent at Lyons, France. This engraving depicts two scenes from the event.
B-42, MUM-290301 – MARCH 29, 2005 – MUMBAI: VIJAYPAT SINGHANIA CHAIRMAN EMERITUS RAYMONDS GROUP AND AVIATOR ANNOUNCES HIS NEW HOT AIR BALLOON ADVENTURE IN MUMBAI ON TUESDAY. PTI PHOTO
The record by Vijaypat Singhania is subject to verification, but his son Gautam Singhania said the 44-ton balloon climbed nearly 70,000 feet, beating the old mark of just under 65,000 feet.
“This goes to show to the world that we are not bullock cart drivers, but we can compete against the best of the world,” the balloonist said.
One of the balloon’s designers said the height will be determined by instruments sealed inside the capsule. Once verified by aeronautical groups, the findings will be submitted to Guinness World Records. The 67-year-old balloonist landed safely after a nearly five-hour flight inside a pressurized cabin suspended from the 160-foot-high, multicolored balloon. The flight was carried live on Indian national television.
“The exact height reached was 69,852 feet. This is subject to certification,” said Colin Prescott, one of two British designers of the balloon. The previous world record was 64,997 feet, set by Sweden’s Per Lindstrand in Plano, Texas, in June 1988. Hundreds of jubilant villagers crowded around the balloon to congratulate Singhania.
“When I broke the record, I was euphoric. I screamed quite loudly,” he said.
Singhania lifted off from downtown Bombay and landed safely on barren land near Panchale, a village about 150 miles south of Bombay.
Singhania, the chairman emeritus of the Raymond Group, one of India’s leading textile companies, also set a record for ultralight aviation 17 years ago when he flew 6,000 miles from Britain to India in 23 days.
Only 25% of the answer was right. Not a very good result…
In 1977 Bruce Comstock found marker speed to be 3000 ft/minute.
“Soon we were timing the fall of scoring markers from our balloons. We discovered that a standard marker fell about 3,000 feet per minute. I then built the first drop sight– two pieces of rigid quarter-inch plastic sheet hinged together. One piece included level sight tubes so it could be kept level. The other could be set to a downward angle according to a scale calibrated in miles per hour of average wind speed. In flight I would set the wind speed on the scale and then sight along the tilted piece until the target was in line with it, at which point I would release the drop marker. This worked, but the device was big and clumsy. Not long after, David designed and built two beautiful pistol-shaped, varnished hardwood drop sights with level sight tubes and wind speed scales. I made a padded “holster” for mine, which I tied into the inside of my basket, ready to use. I used this drop sight for the rest of the years I competed. No single tool wins balloon competitions, but I am sure this drop sight got me points when I needed to use it.”
Comstock, Bruce (2013-10-23). A Life in the Air (Kindle Locations 1189-1195). Willow Press.
“I just studied my archives and found a marker drop altitude&time table written by myself. It is based on marker falling speed of 3000 ft/min. Time of writing: 1985-1987.
Same as reported by Comstock.”
Risto Jalava
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Antal Notheisz
It is with great regret that we must inform you that Antal Notheisz, well known as the founder of the Notheisz Balloon Ltd, passed away on 9th July 2015.
He and his company produced hundreds of hot air balloons from 1980. These balloons flew many countries in Europe and some of them was the first hot air balloon in few countries.
We present our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to his grief-stricken Family and to his friends.
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Paul Kipfer and August Piccard prepare to enter the stratosphere in a pressurized gondola lifted by a hydrogen filled balloon on May 27th, 1931.1
In 1930, an interest in ballooning, and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola that would allow ascent to great altitude without requiring a pressure suit. Supported by the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) Piccard constructed his gondola.
An important motivation for his research in the upper atmosphere were measurements of cosmic radiation, which were supposed to give experimental evidence for the theories of Albert Einstein, whom Piccard knew from the Solvay conferences and who was a fellow alumnus of ETH.
Auguste Piccard in 1932
On 27 May 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer took off from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,781 m (51,775 ft). (FAI Record File Number 10634) During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere, as well as measure cosmic rays. On 18 August 1932, launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland, Piccard and Max Cosyns made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,201 m (53,153 ft). (FAI Record File Number 6590) He ultimately made a total of twenty-seven balloon flights, setting a final record of 23,000 m (75,459 ft)
