Aviation History of Air Balloons:-

THE OLDEST FORM OF AVIATION, THE HISTORY OF HOT AIR BALLOONS BEGINS
OVER 200 YEARS AGO WHEN A FRENCH SCIENTIST FAMOUSLY SENT UP A
BALLOON CARRYING A RATHER CONFUSED DUCK, A SHEEP AND A COCKEREL.

BALLOONS HAVE COME A LONG WAY SINCE THEN (YOU’LL BE PLEASED TO HEAR
WE DON’T BURN OLD BOOTS OR MEAT AS FUEL ANYMORE, OR EXPECT YOU TO
SHARE A BASKET WITH ANIMALS!) AND TODAY BALLOONING IS POPULAR ALL
OVER THE WORLD.

PILOTS LIKE SIR RICHARD BRANSON HAVE ACHIEVED INCREDIBLE FEATS IN A

QUEST TO FLY FURTHER, HIGHER AND FOR LONGER.

1783 - FIRST HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT:-

French scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier famously launched the first hot air
balloon carrying a duck, a sheep and a cockerel. The balloon is given lift by hot air but
also has a compartment of ‘lighter- than-air’ gas – like helium or hydrogen – in the top
of the balloon. The flight lasts for 15 minutes.
1783 - FIRST MANNED HOT AIR BALLOON :-

Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes fly from Paris in a genuine ‘hot air’
balloon created out of paper-lined cloth by wealthy brothers and papermakers
Jacques Étienne and Joseph Michel Montgolfier
1784 - FIRST BALLOON FLIGHT IN THE UK:-

Scottish aviator James Tytler becomes the first Briton to fly a hot air balloon making a
flight over Edinburgh. However, he is overshadowed soon after by Italian diplomat
and ‘dare devil’ Vincenzo Lunardi who completes the first balloon flight in England.
Launching his hydrogen gas balloon in front of 200,000 spectators at London’s
Artillery Ground, he flies with a dog, a cat and a caged pigeon for 24 miles
intoHertfordshire. He becomes famous and helps build the romance of ballooning
still present today.
1785 - FIRST ENGLISH CHANNEL BALLOON CROSSING:-

F French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries successfully fly
across the Channel. They carry and deliver a letter – now that’s what you call ‘Air
Mail’! rench aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries successfully
fly across the Channel. They carry and deliver a letter – now that’s what you call ‘Air
Mail’!
1793 - FIRST BALLOON FLIGHT IN AMERICA:-

Jean-Pierre Blanchard completes the first balloon flight in North America, flying from
Philadelphia to Gloucester County, New Jersey.
1836 - FIRST LONG-DISTANCE BALLOON FLIGHT:-

The Great Balloon of Nassau (85,000 cubic ft in size) is flown by UK balloon

enthusiast Charles Green 800 km (500 mi) from London to Weilburg in Germany in
18 hours. His record is not broken for another years. More than 160 years later,
Virgin Balloon Flights flew his great, great nephew in our big red balloon over the
Cotswolds.
1870 - HOT AIR BALLOONS USED AT WAR

Another first in the history of hot air balloons when they are used for military
observation during Franco-Prussian War and a French Minister makes a dramatic
James Bond-style escape from a besieged Paris by balloon.

1914 - LANDMARK DISTANCE RECORD

The Berliner hot air balloon flies 3,052 km (1,897) flies from Bitterfield in Germany to
Perm in Russia
1914 - BALLOONS IN WORLD WAR I

Both sides use balloons for military observation during the war from 1914 to
1918.These balloons were tempting targets for fighter planes, and so were heavily
defended by ground-based anti-aircraft emplacements. If a balloon came under attack,
its occupant would bail out, with a parachute automatically deploying upon leaving the
basket.

1931 - FIRST GAS BALLOON FLIGHT TO THE STRATOSPHERE:-

Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard flies to the Stratosphere at 15,781 m (51,793 ft) in a
metal cabin carried by a hydrogen gas balloon. The next year, he reached 16,507 m
(54,156 ft).
1960 - MODERN HOT AIR BALLOONING ERA TAKES OFF

Edward Yost invents a propane burner that changes ballooning from gas power to
hot air. A hot air balloon using the burner successfully flies in Nebraska, USA.
1961 - HIGHEST EVER GAS BALLOON FLIGHT

After several successful attempts to better Auguste Piccard’s record by others,

Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather achieve an incredible 34,679m (113,775 ft).
1978 - FIRST TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT IN A HELIUM GAS BALLOON;-

American businessmen Ben Abruzzo, Max L. Anderson and Larry Newman fly a
record 5,000 km (3,108 mi) from Maine, USA, to Miserey, France, in 137 hours and 6
minutes.
1987 - FIRST TRANSATLANTIC HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

Sir Richard Branson and Per Linstrand successfully fly the Virgin Atlantic Flyer – the
largest balloon ever at 2.3 million cubic feet – across the Atlantic. The balloon travels
2,900 miles in a record breaking time of 33 hours and reaches speeds in excess of
130 miles per hour (209 k/ph).

1991 - FIRST TRANSPACIFIC HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

Sir Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand cross the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic
Canada at the furthest distance of 6,700 miles. Again, this breaks all existing records.
The balloon measures 2.6 million cubic feet and hits speeds of up to 245 miles per
hour.
1999 - FIRST ROUND THE WORLD BALLOON FLIGHT

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones fly a helium/hot air balloon, the Breitling Orbiter 3,
around the globe setting the longest ever flight covering 46,759 km (29,055 mi) in 19
days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes.

2002 - FIRST SOLO ROUND THE WORLD FLIGHT

American millionaire Steve Fossett flies around the world in a helium/hot air balloon,
Spirit of Freedom, on his sixth attempt. He flies for 13 days, 34,000 km (22,100 mi). It
is the longest ever solo balloon flight.
2005 - WORLD FEMALE ALTITUDE ATTEMPT

Virgin Balloon Flights pilot Lindsay Muir – the UKs top female flyer – attempts to take
her balloon to 34,000 ft, in Cuneo, Italy, to beat the record of 33,669 ft. High winds
and turbulence cause the attempt to fail but it receives major national coverage for
Virgin and ballooning in general.
2005 - HIGHEST EVER HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

Vijaypat Singhania, an Indian businessman and Aviator, set the record by flying up to
21,290 m (69,852 ft) in a massive 160ft tall balloon with a pressurized cabin (69,852
ft) in a massive 160ft tall balloon with a pressurized cabin.
2009 - LONGEST DURATION FLIGHT IN AN AX-02 BALLOON
Virgin Balloon Flights pilot Mark Shemilt breaks a world record for endurance flying
by keeping a special lightweight hopper balloon (AX-02 category) above the French
Alps for seven hours and 32 minutes, beating previous best by more than half an
hour.

2010 - LONGEST DISTANCE FLIGHT IN AN AX-02 BALLOON

Pilot Mark Shemilt does it again in February 2010 breaking the distance record in the
same AX-02 category balloon flying 120 miles from Leicestershire to the Suffolk
coast.
2011 - LARGEST MASS BALLOON ASCENT

A total of 329 balloons line up to launch at the Lorraine Mondial balloon fiesta in
France setting the world record for the largest mass ascent of hot air balloons.
Meanwhile, Virgin Balloon Flights’ Chief Pilot and Director Kenneth Karlstrom beats

120 other top pilots to win the prestigious event’s target flying competition

2016 - FASTEST SOLO ROUND THE WORLD BALLOON FLIGHT

Russain adventurer (and priest!) Fedor Konyukhov broke the record for solo balloon
flight around the world, completing his 33,000km journey in just under 11 days.