Transatlantic balloon crossing

[Boac]

Just picked up on this, scheduled for some time in June. West to East. Piloted by a Debbie Scholes and her husband. I have discovered that the 'Flight Director' is no other than Kevin Stass who we Dan-Air'ers will remember from Dan Ops.

[Ex-Ascot]

Thanks Boac. Interesting, good luck to them. Don't quite see how they will fit in with the busy transatlantic routes. My resident ATCO who keeps up to speed on these things tells me that they are not fixed tracks these day but even so. I will definitely keep up with their progress.

Saw the list of equipment but no toilet facilities mentioned.

[OneHungLow]

Interesting to think of a balloon tooling along, silently being carried by the jet stream, possibly at a groundspeed well in excess of 110 miles an hours (250 miles per hour plus winds have been experienced). Good luck and bon voyage to these intrepid aviators/aviatrixes.

[CharlieOneSix]

Not the first balloon to cross the Atlantic although I think the first to use both helium and hot air. The first helium crossing was the Double Eagle II, which was successfully flown across the Atlantic in August 1978 by American pilots Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman). Then Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand flew a hot air balloon across in 1987 eventually ditching in the Irish Sea.

An aside to Branson's ditching, both he and Lindstrand were winched up by a Royal Navy helicopter piloted by Trevor Jones. Trevor was a member of the Royal Navy skiing team who had a horrendous accident the following year whilst training with the team. When Branson heard about this he did a lot to support his recovery. I have personal experience of how Branson helped a former Royal Marine helicopter pilot friend who had fallen on hard times. My friend's son was taken critically ill in the USA and when he heard about it Branson ensured that my friend and his wife had first class Virgin return seats to see their son. Small beer you might say, but I respect the man for caring in both circumstances above.

Trevor Jones - from The Free Library a while back

A one-time British Navy helicopter pilot, Jones saw duty in the Falklands. He was participating in the Inter-Services Ski Championships in Austria, when, on a fast downhill run, some people unintentionally got in the way and caused a fearful collision. Jones received treatment at Innsbruch Hospital and at Stoke Mandeville, but almost every nerve was severed and vertebrae were removed from his spine. For nearly five years he lay between life and death.

Jones's naval career was over. For a long time, so was hope and ambition. Patience, pain killers, and sleeping pills helped him through. The eventual arrival of a van--a Plymouth Voyager made in the U.S. by Chrysler and converted by International Mobility Systems, in New Mexico--gave him the promise of independence again. (Such vehicles have to be imported into Britain because they have no front-wheel-dive vehicles that can be adapted by lowering the floor and incorporating automatic sliding doors.)

Once a pilot, always a pilot. Like riding a bicycle--you never forget how to do it. It means only relearning from different angles.

Jones has done his retraining. He flew the Shadow across the English Channel, to prove it could be done. And now he is going to teach other young, disabled people how to regain their freedom against all odds. The Trevor Jones Trust has been established to help other young people learn to fly. A flying school for the disabled is already underway at Old Sarum (a former RAF flying school, near Salisbury).

A Quickie 2 lightweight wheelchair is installed in the microlight. Jones is hand-pushed, lifted into the aircraft, and lifted out wherever he wished to land. Ground staff are alerted to know what to expect.

Jones's apartment is totally automated. He has help from family and friends, a career, a new job, and a promising future. He's full of ideas. This doesn't make up for the loss of his naval career, but he is back into flying and is helping others to participate in the sport in which he was so deeply involved. The impossible seems possible again.

From the BBC News website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1475918.stm

[PHXPhlyer]

Thanks Boac. Interesting, good luck to them. Don't quite see how they will fit in with the busy transatlantic routes. My resident ATCO who keeps up to speed on these things tells me that they are not fixed tracks these day but even so. I will definitely keep up with their progress.

Saw the list of equipment but no toilet facilities mentioned.

https://www.transatlanticballoonchallenge.com/balloon

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Not the first balloon to cross the Atlantic although I think the first to use both helium and hot air. The first helium crossing was the Double Eagle II, which was successfully flown across the Atlantic in August 1978 by American pilots Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman). Then Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand flew a hot air balloon across in 1987 eventually ditching in the Irish Sea.

An aside to Branson's ditching, both he and Lindstrand were winched up by a Royal Navy helicopter piloted by Trevor Jones. Trevor was a member of the Royal Navy skiing team who had a horrendous accident the following year whilst training with the team. When Branson heard about this he did a lot to support his recovery. I have personal experience of how Branson helped a former Royal Marine helicopter pilot friend who had fallen on hard times. My friend's son was taken critically ill in the USA and when he heard about it Branson ensured that my friend and his wife had first class Virgin return seats to see their son. Small beer you might say, but I respect the man for caring in both circumstances above.

Trevor Jones - from The Free Library a while back

A one-time British Navy helicopter pilot, Jones saw duty in the Falklands. He was participating in the Inter-Services Ski Championships in Austria, when, on a fast downhill run, some people unintentionally got in the way and caused a fearful collision. Jones received treatment at Innsbruch Hospital and at Stoke Mandeville, but almost every nerve was severed and vertebrae were removed from his spine. For nearly five years he lay between life and death.

Jones's naval career was over. For a long time, so was hope and ambition. Patience, pain killers, and sleeping pills helped him through. The eventual arrival of a van--a Plymouth Voyager made in the U.S. by Chrysler and converted by International Mobility Systems, in New Mexico--gave him the promise of independence again. (Such vehicles have to be imported into Britain because they have no front-wheel-dive vehicles that can be adapted by lowering the floor and incorporating automatic sliding doors.)

Once a pilot, always a pilot. Like riding a bicycle--you never forget how to do it. It means only relearning from different angles.

Jones has done his retraining. He flew the Shadow across the English Channel, to prove it could be done. And now he is going to teach other young, disabled people how to regain their freedom against all odds. The Trevor Jones Trust has been established to help other young people learn to fly. A flying school for the disabled is already underway at Old Sarum (a former RAF flying school, near Salisbury).

A Quickie 2 lightweight wheelchair is installed in the microlight. Jones is hand-pushed, lifted into the aircraft, and lifted out wherever he wished to land. Ground staff are alerted to know what to expect.

Jones's apartment is totally automated. He has help from family and friends, a career, a new job, and a promising future. He's full of ideas. This doesn't make up for the loss of his naval career, but he is back into flying and is helping others to participate in the sport in which he was so deeply involved. The impossible seems possible again.

From the BBC News website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1475918.stm

https://www.transatlanticballoonchallenge.com/flight

PP