The December Trailrope is out now and is a bumper issue of 20 pages full of interesting history. Editor Jenni always manages to fill the magazine but relies on all of us to send in stories of balloon history, so please feel free to contribute! Meanwhile all of us at the BBM&L wish you a […]
Ryan O’Neal has died and not one media story mentions his role in the feature film ‘Green Ice’ . Our president doubled for him in the filming of the balloon sequence and the museum is proud to have the balloon, overalls and helmet used in the film. Watch this space for the whole story, but
Terry Adams was a long-term friend of the BBM&L and this morning breathed his last after a spell in a care home in South Africa where he made his home for may years. You can read about one of his finest hours when he flew Bristol Belle from the deck of HMS Ark Royal. Story
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 »
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 »
It was on this day 16 November 1959 that American balloonist Joe Kittinger made the first high altitude jump. As part of the Execlsior 1 test programme they wanted to test the first ‘space suit’ and because there wasn’t a plane that could fly that high an enormous balloon took Kittinger to 76,400 feet from
Parachute from balloon Read More »
The weekend of October 8/9 saw a veritable feast of ballooning in Britain starting with the launch of The Queen’s Cup Balloon Race in Taunton, Somerset. The BBAC were invited to lay on an event where pilots would compete for the Queen’s Cup, the oldest and most prestigious sporting trophy in the UK,
Ballooning Bonanza Weekend. Read More »
British Transatlantic Balloon couple, Mike and Deborah Scholes, have now safely retrieved their balloon, G-Z0Z0 from its remote landing site in central south Newfoundland and it is its way back to the UK. A combination of issues during the flight, sadly led to a forced early landing and the premature ending of the attempt for
Mike and Debbie Scholes land early on Atlantic flight. Read More »
We are delighted to announce that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the British Balloon Museum & Library a grant to redesign our website and create the UK’s first online balloon museum! Watch this space for updates as we take our website to new levels.
