The latest issue of Trailrope is published and on the front cover you see a balloon made in 1937 by Bruno Marek who was one of a number of enthusiasts who experimented with hot air balloons in 1930s Europe. One of them ascended to an altitude of 9,374 metres – a world record that stood until 1961.
There’s a splendid video of Marek’s balloon being inflated and launching in 1935 on our YouTube channel courtesy of British Pathe’s archive of news items from 1896 to 1984. Click for video on YouTube.
The other key balloonists were Brunner and Emmer and here we see Brunner about to make a flight of 30 minutes to an altitude if 1,500 feet.
The picture on the left shows the Marek/Emmer balloon which reached a height of 31,324 feet and on the right we see Emmer standing in the basket and Marek standing in front.
The 4 page article in Trailrope has more pictures and tells the whole story, and if you do not receive Trailrope as a ‘friend’ of the BBM&L, now is the time to join ! Click here to join the BBM&L.