Incredible Journey of a Japanese Balloon Bomb
Historic Balloon to Become Museum Exhibit in Michigan (Part 2 of 2) On February 23, 1945, three preteen boys, Larry Bailey and brothers Ken and Bob Fein, were playing in North Dorr, Michigan, near the Fein’s house. All of a sudden, a mysterious object appeared floating overhead and descend at a 45° angle. The boys […]
New World Record: 82 Balloons Take Flight to Cross English Channel
Balloons took to the skies in record numbers on Friday, April 7, as 82 hot air balloons launched from Lydden Hill Race Circuit at 7 a.m., and traveled over the famous White Cliffs of Dover to Calais, France, etching a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The event was organized by Exclusive Ballooning […]
Balloon Museum Celebrates High-Flying Pioneers
Model of the first flyers’ (animals) aircraft at AAAIBM. (Credit: Balloon Journal) Who were the first test pilots in aviation? A sheep, a duck, and a rooster. On September 19, 1783, the animals took off in a balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers. The aircraft floated to 1,700 feet and, after an eight-minute journey, landed […]
Gas Balloon Races Test Skills, Endurance, and Luck
Noah Forden, an aerospace engineer by profession, built his two-seater airplane in his garage and also built his third hot air balloon. He has been flying planes for 17 years and hot-air balloons for 26 years. Last October, Forden, flew to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (AIBF) in his two-seater airplane and carried his cloud […]
To Fly a Balloon in a Mass Ascension
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2016-Morning Mass Ascension; Credit: The Balloon Journal In the 1970s, a small fraternity of daring balloonists used to make their Dawn Patrol ascents by launching in the pre-dawn hours. Balloon pilot Tom Gough, who then did pay rides for Fiesta founder Sid Cutter, was one of them. “Fiesta didn’t recognize us […]
How Do We Get Information About the Weather?
Scientists from NOAA’s ESRL launch a balloon, carrying instruments that measure water-vapor in the upper atmosphere. Credit: NOAA Twice a day, every day of the year, weather technicians release about six-foot round weather balloons from 900 locations worldwide. Weather balloons are made of latex or synthetic rubber (neoprene) and filled with hydrogen or helium—gases that […]
Fedor Konyukhov Prepares to Fly Solo and Non-stop around the World in a Balloon
test Fedor Konyukhov Seeks to Set a New Round-the-World Balloon Record in 2016. Credit: Fedor Konyukhov Expedition Center Russian explorer Fedor Konyukhov plans to fly solo and nonstop around the world in a balloon, in June 2016. Konyukhov hopes to break the record set by American adventurer Steve Fossett in 2002 who completed his round-the-world […]
The First Experiments about the Effects of High Altitude; Balloonists Travel into the Perils of the Upper Regions
Though altitude sickness was also known to mountaineers, it was the balloonists who had traveled the highest and experienced the perils of the upper atmosphere. In fact, James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell had barely made it back alive after their balloon had soared to 36,000 feet on September 5, 1862. Missionaries trekking around in the […]
