The Dante balloon group can proudly call themselves ‘the oldest balloon group still active’. It was formed on 5 December in 1971 by a group of enthusiasts including Pete Bish, John Baker, Phil Dunnington … to be continued The original ‘DANTE’ Balloon. Registered G-AZIP, a Cameron AX-7 O-65, c/n 29. (65,000 cu ft. volume) First […]
DANTE balloon group. Read More »
Terry Adams has enjoyed an illustrious career in ballooning but before that he was a dashing young Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and surely his most memorable flight was in G-AVTL Bristol Belle from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal on 29 November 1970. The story is told in Trailrope #129
Bristol Belle launches from Ark Royal Read More »
All over the world, 21st November is the day balloonists celebrate the anniversary of the first free flight with human beings. In 1783 in Paris, France, the famous Montgolfier balloon took off from the garden of the Château de la Muette in the Bois de Boulogne in the presence of the King. The balloon was
21st November is Montgolfier Day Read More »
On April 13, 1963, pilots Ed Yost and Don Piccard launched the 60,000 cubic foot hot air balloon “Channel Champ” from the village of Rye, England. Three hours and seventeen minutes later Yost landed the aircraft near Gravelines, France completing the historic voyage. Newspaper headlines around the world proclaimed their success the next day and
First Hot Air Balloon across the English Channel Read More »
In 1957, on 18th September Don Piccard flew the first plastic Pleiades, a cluster of small balloons, based upon a design of his father’s, Jean-Felix Piccard, from Valley Forge to Spring Garden Pennsylvania USA. It cost $800 to make and fly. The 1957 Pleiades flight was the first ever plastic balloon multi celled (Pleiades) flight.
Don Piccard b.1926 – d.2020. Read More »
Just after breakfast on August 8th, 1709, a 24 year old Priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmão from Brazil, demonstrated the first model balloon to King John V of Portugal. It was Gusmao’s third attempt, as he had nearly set the palace alight 4 days before. He wore his best black cassock, as he had burned his
1709 – First demonstration of a model hot air balloon Read More »
On the 19th September 1783, Etienne Montgolfier, a paper maker, launched the first hot air balloon with passengers, it was called ‘Aerostat Reveillon’. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster. The balloon stayed in the air for a grand total of 15 minutes before crashing back to the ground. After the successful
The day a duck, a sheep and a cockerel took to the air in 1783 Read More »
The first military use of observation balloons was during the French Revolutionary Wars. They were also used by both sides during the American Civil War (1861-65) and continued in use during the Franco-Prussian War. Balloons were first deployed by the British Army’s Royal Engineers during the expeditions to Bechuanaland and Suakin in 1885. They were
Military Ballooning Read More »
Le Flesselle, the biggest balloon. On the 19th of January 1784, in Lyon, France, the largest Montgolfier balloon ever made was laid out for launching. Called “Le Flesselle”, it was 120 feet high and had a capacity of 700,000 cubic feet, making it not only huge for its day but one of the largest hot
Le Flesselle, 19th January 1784 Read More »
Jean-Pierre Blanchard (July 4, 1753 – March 7, 1809), aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard, was a French inventor, most remembered as a pioneer in aviation and ballooning. He began inventing a variety of interesting devices as a young boy, including a rat trap with a pistol, a velocipede, and later a hydraulic pump system that
Jean Pierre Blanchard Read More »
