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.
At 1:45 pm on 1 December 1783, professor Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers (Les Frères Robert) launched a new, manned hydrogen balloon from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, amid vast crowds and excitement.
The balloon was held on ropes and led to its final launch place by four of the leading noblemen in France, the Marechal de Richelieu, Marshal de Biron, the Bailli de Suffren, and the Duke of Chaulnes. Jacques Charles was accompanied by Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot of the 380-cubic-metre, hydrogen-filled balloon. The envelope was fitted with a hydrogen release valve, and was covered with a net from which the basket was suspended. Sand ballast was used to control altitude. They ascended to a height of about 1,800 feet (550 m) and landed at sunset in Nesles-la-Vallée after a flight of 125 minutes, covering 36 km. The chasers on horseback, who were led by the Duc de Chartres, held down the craft while both Charles and Robert alighted.
Charles then decided to ascend again, but alone this time because the balloon had lost some of its hydrogen. This time he ascended rapidly to an altitude of about 3,000 metres, where he saw the sun again. He began suffering from aching pain in his ears so he ‘valved’ to release gas, and descended to land gently about 3 km away at Tour du Lay. Unlike the Robert brothers, Charles never flew again, although a balloon using hydrogen for its lift came to be called a Charlière in his honour.
Charles and Robert carried a barometer and a thermometer to measure the pressure and the temperature of the air, making this not only the first manned hydrogen balloon flight, but also the first balloon flight to provide meteorological measurements of the atmosphere above the Earth’s surface.
It is reported that 400,000 spectators witnessed the launch, and that hundreds had paid one crown each to help finance the construction and receive access to a “special enclosure” for a “close-up view” of the take-off. Among the “special enclosure” crowd was Benjamin Franklin, the diplomatic representative of the United States of America. Also present was Joseph Montgolfier, whom Charles honoured by asking him to release the small, bright green, pilot balloon to assess the wind and weather conditions.
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.
Portrait of James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841 – May 14, 1918) was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father. Among his many sports-related accomplishments he organized both the first polo match and the first tennis match in the United States, and he personally won the first trans-oceanic yacht race. He sponsored explorers including Henry Morton Stanley’s trip to Africa to find David Livingstone, and the ill-fated USS Jeannette attempt on the North Pole. 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
Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has broken the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth in a rozier balloon in just over 11 days.
Konyukhov, who set off from Western Australia’s Avon Valley on July 12, has gone past the point he needed to fly over to break the record and is expected to land in WA’s Wheatbelt later this afternoon.
But his difficult task of landing the balloon is still ahead of him and the crew is eager to get the craft back on the ground before nightfall. Continue reading
Russian balloonist Fedor Konyukhov took off early this morning from western Australia, near Perth, on a quest to fly around the world nonstop and solo. Konyukhov, 64, an artist, author and adventurer, hopes to beat Steve Fossett’s record, set in 2002, of 13.5 days to complete the journey. He’s flying a Roziere-style balloon, which is a hybrid that uses both hot air, heated by propane tanks, and helium to provide lift. If he succeeds, he’ll be only the second person to complete the solo circumnavigation. As of Tuesday morning, he was flying eastward above the Australian continent.
Here are the final standings after a truly amazing Gordon Bennett 2015 balloon race. Swiss-2 squeezed every last drop out of their balloon last night and landed in 3rd place. Pilots have been tested fully since launching on friday evening. Decisions to land early are always disappointing, but a leaking balloon of USA-1 and thunderstorms in the night gave four teams no choice. We have watched balloon flying at its finest and the organisers, pilots, crews and helpers can all be proud of a job well done.
Congratulations for all participants!
The Two Eagles balloon team is pleased to report the Two Eagles balloon has landed safely just off the Baja coast near La Poza Grande. The pilots made a controlled descent to a gentle water landing about four miles off the Baja coast. The balloon is stable and still inflated and the pilots are fine.
Winds at the lower levels turned parallel to the coast, which made it more prudent for the pilots to execute a landing in the water. Mexican authorities are cooperating fully and the Coast Guard is enroute to the balloon. We anticipate they will tow the capsule to shore.
We would note that a water landing is acceptable under the international rules governing the establishment of world records. Two around-the-world attempts using a different type of balloon landed in the water and were approved as records.
Congratulations for Troy Bradleyand Leonid Tiukhtyaev! Landing occurred at six days, 16 hours and 37 minutes into the mission (approximately 7:01 AM MST or 1400 UTC) at a distance of 6,646 miles (10,696 km).
In Memoriam: Richard Abbruzzo & Carol Rymer-Davis, lost at Adriatic sea on September 29, 2010.
