Balloonists: the First Flights

Date1984 – 1987

Viewing NotesBalloonist Joe Kittinger's take-off from Caribou, ME in an effort to make the first solo Atlantic crossing in a helium-filled balloon (1983?). *Atlantic Virgin Flyer preparations at Sugarloaf, Maine, July 2, 1987. Great shot of Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel. Shots of the exterior and interior of the gondola and an interview with Richard Branson a few hours before take-off. Then filling the balloon and talking with the aviators with launch at night with a mishap. An interview with a support staffer explaining that a fuel tank fell off the craft and what it would mean for the mission. *Businessman and serial record-chaser Richard Branson (UK), 36, and adventurer Per Lindstrand (Sweden), 38 cross the Atlantic Ocean - (3,074 mi) of it between Sugarloaf in Maine, USA, and Limavady in Co Londonderry, UK - in a hot-air balloon (as opposed to a helium-filled balloon such as the Double Eagle II, which was successfully flown across the Atlantic in August 1978 by American pilots Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman). While admitting he loved to "achieve things that haven't been achieved before", Branson also had one eye on his business ventures and was eager for his fledgling Virgin Atlantic airline to provide some competition for British Airways. "We needed to come up with fun ways of promoting the airline, getting Virgin on the map," he said. Convinced by Lindstrand that a transatlantic hot-air balloon flight was both safe and achievable, the pair boarded the Virgin Atlantic Flyer in Sugarloaf on 2 July 1987. *From Guinness World Records