Three pilots from Britain, the US and Switzerland will be the first to cross the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon next month. With a combined age of over 200, they are also set to be the oldest.
Three pilots will attempt the first hydrogen open basket gas balloon crossing of the Atlantic next month.
British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 66, will be joined by American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen, 72, for the adventure. The crew, with a combined age of more than 200, will be the oldest people to cross the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon.
Their route will take them from Maine in the US, over Newfoundland in Canada, across the Atlantic Ocean, and then Ireland and Scottish waters before they land in Europe. They will travel many thousands of miles during the trip, which is expected to take between four and five days in September, flying at an altitude of 6,000 to 8,000 feet.
If successful, it will be the first Atlantic crossing in a hydrogen balloon and may also mark the longest distance covered in this type of balloon. Sir David will also become the only person to have flown across the Atlantic three times in an open basket balloon, having first achieved the feat in 2003 and completing it again in 2007.