The History of Hot Air Ballooning
History Pages
- Brief History
- 1783 - Birth of Flight
- 1784 - English Aeronaut
- 1785 - Conquering the Channel
- 1793 - America Takes Off
- 1800 - Death of the Hot Air Balloon
- 1812 - The Irish Question
- 1898 - Balloons to Airplanes
- 1931 - A Stratospheric Achievement
- 1935 - Highest Men in the World
- 1960 - Balloons and Parachutes
- 1960s - Renaissance of Hot Air
- 1978 - Transatlantic Challenge
- 1981 - Transpacific Challenge
- 1987 - Richard Branson
- 1999 - The Last Frontier
- 2005 - Altitude Record Broken Again
1999 – Conquering the Last Frontier
The first around the world flight was completed by Swiss Bertrand Piccard (grandson of Auguste Piccard) and Briton Brian Jones. Leaving from Switzerland and landing in Africa, they smashed all previous distance records, travelling over 29,000 miles and flying for 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes.
Myanmar Air traffic control:
‘Hotel Bravo-Bravo Romeo Alpha, what is your departure point and destination?’
Brian Jones:
Departure point, Château d'Oex, Switzerland. Destination, somewhere in northern Africa.
Myanmar Air traffic control, after several seconds' silence:
If you're going from Switzerland to northern Africa, what on earth are you doing in Myanmar?
Brian Jones and unknown controller, approaching Myanmar's air space during record around the world in a balloon trip, 9 March 1999
