August 17, 1978: Double Eagle II sets down in a barley field. The feat was the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman left Presque Isle, Maine and 137 hours and 6 minutes later they landed in Miserey, France. This was the fourteenth attempt to cross the Atlantic using a balloon. The first try came in 1873 with the trip ending after 45 miles. By try #13, the two pilots were only 110 miles short of their goal when the gas bag ripped. Two flights vanished over the ocean (#4 in 1970 and #6 in 1974) killing the four balloonists. In 1974 with attempt #7, the balloon burst, killing the lone occupant.
Double Eagle II was built and designed by Ed Yost. The balloon held 160,000 cubic feet of helium. The attached gondola was named "The Spirit of Albuquerque" and measured 15 x 7 x 4.5 feet. The three men flew 3,107.6 miles in 5 days, 17 hours, and 6 minutes. The gondola was equipped with a twin hulled catamaran and would float should they need to make an emergency water landing. Newman also brought a hang glider intending to glide to a landing. However, it was jettisoned as ballast the day before.
Anderson and Abruzzo, both businessmen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had tried to cross the ocean in Double Eagle I in 1977 – try #11 – but they were forced to ditch west of Iceland after looping east of Greenland. The smaller balloon was battered by storms after a delayed lift off and the ride ended after 65.5 hours. By 1978, the businessmen were both in their early forties while Newman, a hang glider manufacturer, was in his twenties. All three were experienced aviators in hot air balloons, hang gliders, and airplanes.
They had learned form earlier mistakes and managed to sail in over France. They looked for a promising spot to land. They were told the Le Bourget Airport had been closed for them. It was the airport used by Charles Lindbergh after his successful transatlantic flight. The crew was afraid of harming the people who had gathered to watch the landing of the Double Eagle II. They sailed on to safely land in the barley field, the first transcontinental balloon to alight on dry land.
"Another term for balloon is bad breath holder." - Demetri Martin
"My dream date is a tall, dark, handsome, blue eyed man with a bubble butt who will whisk me away to Paris in a hot air balloon to wine me, dine me ..." - Karen McDougal
"The jet stream is a very strong force and pushing a balloon into it is like pushing up against a brick wall, but once we got into it, we found that, remarkably, the balloon went whatever speed the wind went." - Richard Branson
"Well, the odds must be against anybody being able to fly around the world in a balloon on the first attempt. All of us who are attempting to go around the world in balloons are effectively flying in experimental craft because these craft cannot be tested." - Richard Branson
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