Post date: Sep 13, 2013 2:1:17 PM
Next Media Online - In a scene reminiscent of the Pixar movie UP, IT analyst and amateur aviator Jonathan Trappe took off from MaineThursday hoping to become the first person ever to make a transAtlantic crossing using a cluster balloon
Trappe took off from Caribou, Maine, in heavy fog in a basket-cum-lifeboat suspended under 370 helium-filled balloons heading east from the US.
The journey will see Trappe, 39, travel as far as 2,500 miles (4,000 km), taking between three and five days. Depending on the weather, he could end up anywhere from Iceland and Morocco.Trappe will rely on a top meteorologist for the latest weather information, which currently suggest he will end up in western Europe.
The cluster balloon will reach altitudes of up to 25,000 ft (7.6 km) to take advantage of winds that will take him toward Europe. He will drop ballast to ascend, and to descend he will release or pop balloons.
"Weather is absolutely the most dangerous factor," said Trappe just before launch. " It's the only thing that will carry me across, but bad conditions could also ruin the attempt or endanger my life."
Joe Kittinger, a former US Air Force officer who previously set records for jumping from a balloon 31 km up and for being the first solo balloonist to cross the Atlantic, was present at the launch.
Trappe is no stranger to cluster ballooning and was the first person to cross the English Channel and the Alps using the method.
He also holds the record of 14 hours for the longest cluster balloon flight.
SOURCES: ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/09/balloonist-attempts-record-flight-across-the-atlantic/
The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/helium-balloons-jonathan-trappe-up-transatlantic
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