tooktimeout
fromnegotiatingthe
TreatyofParisto
watcha flight.3
BALLOONINGIS
stilla bigspectator
sport.Thelargest
ballooneventinthe
world, theAlbuquer-
queInternational
BalloonFiesta,inNew
Mexico,USAattracted
almost900,000people
overninedaysin2018.
Festivalsareheldacross
theworld,including
in France,Australia,
NewZealand,Malaysia
andTaiwan.4
COMMONLYmade
fromheat-resistant
nylonorpolyester,
thecolourful,usually
25-metre-tall‘balloon’
part– calledthe
envelope– islaidout
onthegroundtobe
partiallyfilledwith
coldair.Then,tocreate
theliftrequiredfor
takeoff,theairisheated
bypropaneburners
attachedbelowthe
mouthoftheenvelope.5
THEHIGHEST
anyonehaseverflownina hot-air
balloonis21,027
metres, nearlytwice
thecruisingaltitudeof
commercialairliners.
Atthoseheights,the
peopleinthebasket
needoxygenmasks.
Anotherrecord:in
1991,entrepreneur
RichardBransonand
SwedishengineerPer
Lindstrandbecamethe
first‘aeronauts’(that’s
theofficialterm)to
crossthePacificOcean.
TheysetofffromJapan
andtravelledmore
than 767 2 kilometresin
about 46 hours.There
wasnocheeringcrowd
togreetthem,however:
Themenlandedon
a frozenlakeinthe
Yukoninnorth-western
Canada,andhad to be
airliftedout.6
DISTA NCErecords
areallthemore
remarkablebecause,
unlikeaeroplanes,
balloonsareveryhard
tosteer.Thewindat
30 metresmightbe
goingeast,whilethe
windat 60 metres
mightbegoingwest,
says Becky Wigeland,curatoroftheNational
BalloonMuseumin
Iowa.“Soyoujust
keepgoingupand
downuntilyougetthe
windthatyouwant.
That’sallyou can do,”
shesays.7
THATDOESN’T
stopballoonpilots
fromdoingsomecrazy
stunts. Oneoftheir
favouritegamesis
calledHareandHound.
Oneballoon(thehare)
launchesfirst.Thenall
theotherballoons(the
hounds)chasethehare.
Whentheharelands,
thehoundstrytoland
ascloseasthey can to
theirprey.8
THEMOSTfamous
balloonhunt
happenedduring
theAmericanCivil
War.Anaeronaut
namedThaddeus
Loweconvinced
PresidentAbraham
Lincolnofthemerits
ofhot-airballoon
reconnaissance.
Lowewentonto
commandtheUnion
BalloonCorps,with
mixed results. The108 March 2020
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