Atlantic Explorer Frequently Asked Questions...
Why fly across the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon?
Atlantic Explorer 2026 will be only the second manned balloon to attempt a flight across the Atlantic Ocean using hydrogen as the lifting gas. The first, Small World in 1958, did not make it across, so if Atlantic Explorer succeeds it will be the first hydrogen balloon to complete a crewed transoceanic flight. All the other transatlantic gas balloon flights used helium. As with many flights of this nature, there is also a possibility of setting world records. The team believes if their flight is successful, it could set new world distance and duration records
for their size balloon. The current distance record for class AA-09 balloons is 4,227.1 km or 2,626.6 miles, set by David Hempleman-Adams in 2007. The duration record of 107 hours, 37 minutes, was set by Ed Yost during his transatlantic attempt in 1976.
How rare a feat is this?
In the 19 th and through most of the 20 th century, manned transoceanic flight by balloon, using only the wind and the pilot’s wits to successfully complete the crossing, was one of the last great goals in aviation. Many tried and most failed; five people died trying. The first successful transatlantic flight was finally completed in 1978 by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, three Albuquerque, NM (USA) businessmen and balloonists.There have been only three previous successful transatlantic flights using a straight gas
balloon like Atlantic Explorer 2026 that uses a lighter-than-air gas unaided by other onboard means to create lift. Besides Double Eagle II, the other gas flights were by Joe Kittinger in 1984 and David Hempleman-Adams in 2007. Other types of manned balloons using or assisted by hot air have crossed the Atlantic nine times (not counting around-the-world flights and attempts).
Who are the people attempting the flight?
This flight presents a great personal and technical challenge to the pilots, Bert Padelt and his friends Peter Cuneo and Alicia Hempleman-Adams. All are balloonists with an adventurous spirit and their own compelling personal reasons for making the journey. Bert Padelt turned a love of ballooning that began at a very early age into a life and career that has made him one of the world’s most recognized and respected people in the field; he has been a key member of the flight support teams for several epic flights but has never had the opportunity to make one of his own. Bert and his wife Joanie live in eastern Pennsylvania where they own and run Best Aviation, a balloon manufacturing and repair business. Like Bert, Peter Cuneo has spent much of his ballooning life on the support teams for others’ flights, contributing his engineering and aeronautical skills to innovative, cutting-edge
projects. With his wife Barbara Fricke, he is a champion balloonist whose daring flights include transits of the North Sea, three of the U.S. Great Lakes, and several mountain ranges including the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. Peter is a retired engineer originally from Chicago, IL and now lives in Albuquerque, NM. Alicia Hempleman-Adams MBE, the daughter of the British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, at a young age holds several world distance and duration ballooning records and will have the opportunity to become the first woman to
complete a transatlantic crossing via gas balloon. Alicia lives in London England and works in the fashion industry.
Where will the balloon launch and where will it land?
The chosen launch site, Presque Isle, ME (USA,) has both practical and historical significance. Maine is the furthest state to the northeast in the United States and the closest to Europe, an Presque Isle is in the far northeast corner of Maine. The first successful transatlantic flight, Double Eagle II in 1978, launched from Presque Isle. The landing location depends on the weather. It could be as far north as Ireland, England and Scandinavia and as far south as North Africa and is determined by the wind direction at the altitudes where the balloon will fly, how long the crossing takes, and any restricted areas the balloon may encounter as it crosses into Europe.
How far must the balloon fly to reach Europe?
It depends on where in Europe the balloon’s trajectory takes it. Previous successful transatlantic flights that have launched from the continental United States have had to fly 3,100-3,500 miles (4,989-5,633 km) to reach dry land.
What is the proposed launch date?
The launch window – the period when the team’s equipment is staged onsite ready for the flight and the team is on standby from May 1 till September 31st 2026. This time frame was chosen because weather patterns at that time of year are more likely to offer stable and storm-free conditions. The actual launch date depends on when the weather is favorable for completion of the flight.
How does weather affect the launch and flight?
Weather is everything, since a balloon is essentially a particle of the air it travels in and can only go in the direction and at the speed the wind blows. The team’s meteorologists are seeking a weather pattern that offers calm winds in Presque Isle for the inflation and launch, storm-free, clear skies and fast winds across the Atlantic, and light to moderate winds for the landing in Europe.
Who are the sponsors?
The expedition is largely privately funded by the team members, but through the project’s four years and three previous attempts several sponsors have contributed funds and resources to the project. These include Blaser Swisslube, Cryogenic Trailers, YB Tracking, GH2CS, Bally Ribbon Mills, Best Aviation, Digitool USA, Battery Axxeessories, Kubicek Balloons and original title sponsor Torabhaig.
About the balloon:
How is this balloon different from those most people are familiar with?
Atlantic Explorer 2026 is a “straight gas” balloon using hydrogen, a lighter-than-air gas to provide lift. Flying a gas balloon requires dropping weight in the form of sand or water ballast and valving (small releases) of gas to control altitude, along with taking advantage of natural heating and cooling cycles that cause the gas to expand and contract during the day.
Hot air balloons use propane-fired burners to warm the normal air inside their envelopes creating lift. Hot air is less dense and lighter than cold air, and if the difference in temperature is great enough will rise and lift with it the weight of the balloon and its occupants. These colorful craft are the ones spectators usually see at ballooning eventsaround the world.
Rozier balloons, named after their inventor Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, are hybrid systems using a combination of hot air and gas to create lift. The balloon contains an inner gas cell filled with helium surrounded by a larger hot-air envelope filled with warm air heated by a hot air balloon-type burner. The burner heats the air around the gas cell, minimizing the expansion and contraction of the gas cell and helping to limit the loss of gas. This extends the
amount of time the balloon can remain in the air. The burner also helps to control the balloon’s altitude. Rozier balloons were used for most successful transoceanic flights and all the successful non-stop balloon flights around the world.
Who built the balloon?
The balloon envelope (the balloon itself) and basket were built in Pennsylvania by master gas balloon craftsman Bert Padelt and his wife Joanie with the help of several ballooning friends. It is made of approximately 1,200 yards of 4.25/ounce per square yard nylon taffeta with a supporting structural webbing (load tapes); both fabric and load tapes are conductive. The balloon’s volume is 90,000 cubic feet (about 2,459 cubic meters), or about two and a half times the size of the balloons used for competitions such as the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett and the America’s Challenge. The basket measures 60 inches by 80 inches (5 feet x
6.5 feet, or about 1.5 meters x 2 meters), and is extremely lightweight; around 150 pounds. In addition to the pilots and equipment, the balloon will carry 3,600 pounds of sand ballast and 26 gallons of drinking water, some of which could also serve as ballast. A valve at the top of the balloon can be briefly opened to release gas for maneuvering, and the balloon has two deflation ports that will be used to deflate the balloon at the end of the flight.
Why fly in an open basket?
Many transatlantic attempts and flights have been flown using open baskets or gondolas including Double Eagle II in 1978. Bert Padelt and Peter Cuneo have both flown thousands of miles in open basket balloons, including flights over open water. Using an open basket helps to reduce the system weight, allowing the balloon to carry additional ballast and improving its duration.
Hydrogen? Is it safe?
Hydrogen has been the gas of choice for gas balloonists in Europe for decades if not centuries. Also, since 2012 when deregulation made helium prohibitively scarce and expensive, virtually all gas balloon flights in the United States have been conducted using hydrogen. In a properly constructed conductive balloon system, inflated and piloted correctly and flown in good weather conditions, hydrogen has been proven to be safe. However, hydrogen is a more volatile gas than helium and must be handled with care and respect. Although Atlantic Explorer 2026, if it succeeds, will be the first manned crossing of a hydrogen balloon, hydrogen was used safely to cross the Atlantic many times by dirigibles in the early
1900s. The explosion that destroyed the Hindenburg in 1937 is an obvious exception, but an extremely rare event that occurred on landing. It should be noted that dirigibles are steerable aircraft which, unlike balloons, can travel in directions other than the way the wind is blowing.
What navigation and communications equipment does the balloon carry?
Like all aircraft, the balloon carries instruments that report its altitude, rate of climb and descent, heading and speed, radio equipment for communication with air traffic control and transponders that report the balloon’s position. These include portable aircraft VHF and HF radios and ham radio to provide backup and emergency communications. The balloon has an emergency locator beacon and each pilot wears a personal locator device. The balloon will carry a Starlink satellite system to provide high speed internet service for communications with their meteorologists and Flight Control team. Tracking software reports the balloon’s position in near real time to the Flight Control team and to the general public via the team’s website and social media sites. The balloon carries carry two satellite phones and
cell phones through which the pilots can text through WhatsApp.
About the flight:
How does a gas balloon fly?
Straight gas balloons like Atlantic Explorer 2026 use a lighter-than-air gas to generate lift, in this case hydrogen, the lightest of the gases. As the balloon flies, the gas expands and contracts with heat. In the morning as the sun warms the balloon, the gas inside expands and the balloon gains altitude. If the balloon becomes too full, hydrogen automatically vents through the appendix at the bottom of the envelope, and the pilots can also if necessary release small amounts of hydrogen through a valve at the top of the balloon to stay in themost favorable winds.
As the sun goes down, the opposite occurs: the gas contracts and the balloon loses altitude. To counteract this effect, the pilots must get rid of weight. For this purpose the balloon carries ballast (expendable weight), mostly in the form of sand, which is poured out to make the balloon lighter. The sand is carried in 120 color-coded bags which help the pilots keep track of how much sand they have used during the flight. Depending on the weather and flight profile, the balloon will most likely carry about 3.600 pounds (1,633 kg) of sand. It also carries 26 gallons of water for drinking and use as ballast. In an emergency anything that has weight can be used as ballast, and history demonstrates that balloonists have tossed equipment, food, and even pieces of the gondola overboard to stay aloft. In one of the earliest great balloon flights, the first gas balloon crossing of the
English Channel in the late eighteenth century, pilots Blanchard and Jefferies famously landed in their underwear!
At what altitude will the balloon fly?
The altitudes are expected to vary between 5,000 to 16,000 feet above sea level, depending on the time of day, weather, and wind conditions. Typically, higher winds are at higher altitudes. The initial plan is that the team will work its way up to higher altitudes as the flight progresses. However, the actual altitudes will be decided at launch time and as the flight continues based on weather conditions.
How long will the flight last?
It depends on the wind speeds prevailing during the flight, but it is likely that the transatlantic crossing could take five to six days.
How do the pilots use weather information?
The pilots remain in close contact with their weather team and with Flight Control throughout the flight, talking with them every few hours. The team’s meteorologists, Don Day and Randy Lefevre, are two of the top experts in the world in analyzing weather and determining trajectories for long-distance balloon flights. These experts provide the pilots with weather data and options for
applying that data, especially as it relates to current and forecasted wind speeds and directions at various altitudes. The pilots then use this information to make in-flight adjustments and decisions. One analogy balloonists sometimes use is that the pilots drive the bus and the weather forecasters provide the route.
The meteorologists also watch carefully for changes in the overall weather pattern and especially any storms the balloon could encounter. The accuracy of weather forecasting is much improved from the early days of transoceanic flight, which greatly improves the pilots’ safety and chance of success. Still, as anyone who watches their local TV weathercasts knows, there can be surprises along the way.
How does the Flight Control team support the pilots?
Flight Control team members Kevin Stass, Tomas Hora, Clive Bailey, and Jonathan Harris, who are primarily based in England, are responsible for the ground-based support of the mission. They monitor aeronautical charts to keep the pilots informed of any airspace restrictions, help facilitate contact with the FAA and air traffic controllers, manage live tracking of the balloon’s position, and initiate and help to coordinate search and rescue operations should that become necessary. Once the balloon lands, Flight Control helps to guide the chase crew to the balloon and facilitate retrieval of the pilots and equipment. The team also includes meteorologists Don Day and Randy Lefevre, technology specialists Charles Willard and Jay Willmott, and press officer Kim Vesely, who are based in the United States.
What other support does the team have?
Launching a balloon like Atlantic Explorer 2026 requires the help of a skilled team of volunteers to inflate the balloon and ready it and its associated equipment for flight. Once the launch becomes imminent, these volunteers will converge on Presque Isle to perform this vital task. As the balloon nears the end of its journey, volunteers in Europe will stand ready to retrieve the pilots and their equipment. The pilots’ families, friends, and balloon crew members in their hometowns provide vital moral and emotional support.
What happens if the balloon lands in the ocean?
In the event it becomes necessary for the balloon to ditch, the balloonists’ survival gear includes survival (immersion) suits, life vests, an inflatable life raft, portable VHF and HF aircraft and ham radios, and E-PIRB (personal locator devices) that send out GPS coordinates as well as a signal. The pilots have trained to use this equipment in case of an emergency. Flight Control remains in contact with air traffic controllers and can call on military, maritime and other resources that can provide search and rescue assistance in case of an emergency.
Life Aboard the Balloon:
What are the pilots’ living quarters like?
The three pilots’ home for the duration of the flight (estimated at five to six days) is a 60 by 80-inch (5 feet x 6.5 feet, or about 1.5 meters x 2 meters) aluminum frame basket open to the outside air. Most closets are bigger! A narrow bench runs along one side of the basket under which one of the pilots can sleep. Flight instruments, radio equipment, and essential gear like oxygen tanks are ranged around the inside of the basket, and the team’s clothing, survival gear, food, water, and other items hang outside, along with the 120 bags of precious
sand used as ballast (expendable weight) to maneuver the balloon. Also hanging outside is a 150-foot thick heavy rope, the trail rope used in landing the balloon at the end of the flight. The cargo also includes two folding aluminum lawn chairs that provide, in addition to extra seating, a bit of tradition: the Double Eagle teams carried similar chairs in their gondolas during their transatlantic and transpacific flights. One author called these chairs “one of the expedition’s least sophisticated, least expensive, and most useful items of equipment.”
How will the pilots stay warm and oxygenated?
The pilots are accustomed to flying in cold weather and have appropriate clothing, including water-resistant jackets and warm headwear and footwear. They dress in layers and have hand and foot warmers available. At night they can lower a lightweight plastic rain skirt from the balloon’s load ring which covers the basket and retains heat as well as keeping off moisture and condensation. The balloon carries supplemental oxygen on board; the team members will use oxygen to help them breathe when flying at higher altitudes.
What do the pilots eat while aloft?
The pilots will carry hikers’ meals, fresh fruit, beef jerky, energy bars, and other quick and easy foods to eat, as well as personal comfort foods to snack on. Avoiding dehydration during the flight will be very important, so the pilots carry lots of water, sports and electrolyte replenishing drinks, and other beverages. However, on long-distance balloon flights pilots tend to not get very hungry because of the flight altitude and the limited space in the gondola to move around.
What sanitary facilities are on board?
The balloon carries a simple toilet.
What about sleep?
The pilots have sleeping bags on board, and a sleeping space under the bench that runs the length of the basket. They work and sleep in shifts, with one pilot flying, one resting but on call and available to help out as needed, and one sleeping. The pilots try to get as much rest as possible, since they will be in the air many days and must be alert and able to land the balloon safely at the end of the flight. In practice, “good sleep” is hard to come by, and the team is likely to be quite tired at the end of the flight.
What communication do the pilots have with the outside world?
The team expects to be in frequent touch with Flight Control, their weather team, and air traffic controllers. The pilots also hope to be able to exchange quick messages with family members. Aside from these necessary conversations, as long-distance flights progress the “real world” both literally and figuratively tends to fall away. Peter Cuneo and his wife Barbara Fricke wrote in 2008,” By the third day a form of mental and physical isolation is setting in. It is a removal from the world on the ground almost like solitary confinement… Our world is how much ballast we have left, where we will land and what the weather conditions will be as we
descend.”
Do the pilots have any time to just relax and enjoy the view?
Not much. The balloon requires continual monitoring while in flight as weather conditions and the day-to-night cycle changes; they are also required to keep air traffic controllers abreast of their position and plans. However, the pilots might slip a book or some music on board just in case there’s a bit of down time.
Is there any privacy?
Uh, no! Balloonists who engage in long-distance flights say that one of the hardest parts of the flight is being confined in a closet-sized space that doubles as living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom with (in this case) two other people and no escape. Even when, as is the case with Atlantic Explorer 2026, the pilots are friends and pursuing a common goal, history demonstrates the togetherness can become taxing.
Any unusual or interesting items aboard?
Balloonists can be a superstitious lot and they need all the luck they can get. Transoceanic pilots since the Double Eagle days have carried personal mementos and talismans on their epic flights. Bert and Joanie Padelt traditionally sew a silver dollar into the envelopes of balloons intended for use in world record attempts, and Atlantic Explorer 2026 has one. In keeping with a tradition started by Double Eagle pilots and New Mexicans Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson, the team has a small chile ristra on board. Stringing chiles and hanging them to dry is traditional in the U.S. Southwest, and ristras symbolize welcome, health, and good luck. In a nod to another tradition, the team will carry “balloon mail”: flight covers that
commemorate the flight. Its design echoes that of the flight covers Ed Yost, generally considered the father of modern hot air ballooning, carried on his near-successful transatlantic attempt in 1976, 50 years ago. Alicia Hempleman-Adams will be monitoring scientific experiments designed to collect air samples for a project it is hoped will lead to the discoveryof new natural proteins for use in medicines, biofuels, bioplastics, and agritech.
What do the balloonists families and friends think of the idea?
Bert’s wife Joanie Padelt, Peter’s wife Barbara Fricke, and Alicia’s father Sir David Hempleman-Adams are all hot air and gas balloon pilots who understand the challenges involved in the flight. Their family members and friends have experienced many years of the Atlantic Explorer 2026 pilots’ previous adventures and have been supportive of this latest venture.
Atlantic Explorer 2026 will be only the second manned balloon to attempt a flight across the Atlantic Ocean using hydrogen as the lifting gas. The first, Small World in 1958, did not make it across, so if Atlantic Explorer succeeds it will be the first hydrogen balloon to complete a crewed transoceanic flight. All the other transatlantic gas balloon flights used helium. As with many flights of this nature, there is also a possibility of setting world records. The team believes if their flight is successful, it could set new world distance and duration records
for their size balloon. The current distance record for class AA-09 balloons is 4,227.1 km or 2,626.6 miles, set by David Hempleman-Adams in 2007. The duration record of 107 hours, 37 minutes, was set by Ed Yost during his transatlantic attempt in 1976.
How rare a feat is this?
In the 19 th and through most of the 20 th century, manned transoceanic flight by balloon, using only the wind and the pilot’s wits to successfully complete the crossing, was one of the last great goals in aviation. Many tried and most failed; five people died trying. The first successful transatlantic flight was finally completed in 1978 by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, three Albuquerque, NM (USA) businessmen and balloonists.There have been only three previous successful transatlantic flights using a straight gas
balloon like Atlantic Explorer 2026 that uses a lighter-than-air gas unaided by other onboard means to create lift. Besides Double Eagle II, the other gas flights were by Joe Kittinger in 1984 and David Hempleman-Adams in 2007. Other types of manned balloons using or assisted by hot air have crossed the Atlantic nine times (not counting around-the-world flights and attempts).
Who are the people attempting the flight?
This flight presents a great personal and technical challenge to the pilots, Bert Padelt and his friends Peter Cuneo and Alicia Hempleman-Adams. All are balloonists with an adventurous spirit and their own compelling personal reasons for making the journey. Bert Padelt turned a love of ballooning that began at a very early age into a life and career that has made him one of the world’s most recognized and respected people in the field; he has been a key member of the flight support teams for several epic flights but has never had the opportunity to make one of his own. Bert and his wife Joanie live in eastern Pennsylvania where they own and run Best Aviation, a balloon manufacturing and repair business. Like Bert, Peter Cuneo has spent much of his ballooning life on the support teams for others’ flights, contributing his engineering and aeronautical skills to innovative, cutting-edge
projects. With his wife Barbara Fricke, he is a champion balloonist whose daring flights include transits of the North Sea, three of the U.S. Great Lakes, and several mountain ranges including the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. Peter is a retired engineer originally from Chicago, IL and now lives in Albuquerque, NM. Alicia Hempleman-Adams MBE, the daughter of the British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, at a young age holds several world distance and duration ballooning records and will have the opportunity to become the first woman to
complete a transatlantic crossing via gas balloon. Alicia lives in London England and works in the fashion industry.
Where will the balloon launch and where will it land?
The chosen launch site, Presque Isle, ME (USA,) has both practical and historical significance. Maine is the furthest state to the northeast in the United States and the closest to Europe, an Presque Isle is in the far northeast corner of Maine. The first successful transatlantic flight, Double Eagle II in 1978, launched from Presque Isle. The landing location depends on the weather. It could be as far north as Ireland, England and Scandinavia and as far south as North Africa and is determined by the wind direction at the altitudes where the balloon will fly, how long the crossing takes, and any restricted areas the balloon may encounter as it crosses into Europe.
How far must the balloon fly to reach Europe?
It depends on where in Europe the balloon’s trajectory takes it. Previous successful transatlantic flights that have launched from the continental United States have had to fly 3,100-3,500 miles (4,989-5,633 km) to reach dry land.
What is the proposed launch date?
The launch window – the period when the team’s equipment is staged onsite ready for the flight and the team is on standby from May 1 till September 31st 2026. This time frame was chosen because weather patterns at that time of year are more likely to offer stable and storm-free conditions. The actual launch date depends on when the weather is favorable for completion of the flight.
How does weather affect the launch and flight?
Weather is everything, since a balloon is essentially a particle of the air it travels in and can only go in the direction and at the speed the wind blows. The team’s meteorologists are seeking a weather pattern that offers calm winds in Presque Isle for the inflation and launch, storm-free, clear skies and fast winds across the Atlantic, and light to moderate winds for the landing in Europe.
Who are the sponsors?
The expedition is largely privately funded by the team members, but through the project’s four years and three previous attempts several sponsors have contributed funds and resources to the project. These include Blaser Swisslube, Cryogenic Trailers, YB Tracking, GH2CS, Bally Ribbon Mills, Best Aviation, Digitool USA, Battery Axxeessories, Kubicek Balloons and original title sponsor Torabhaig.
About the balloon:
How is this balloon different from those most people are familiar with?
Atlantic Explorer 2026 is a “straight gas” balloon using hydrogen, a lighter-than-air gas to provide lift. Flying a gas balloon requires dropping weight in the form of sand or water ballast and valving (small releases) of gas to control altitude, along with taking advantage of natural heating and cooling cycles that cause the gas to expand and contract during the day.
Hot air balloons use propane-fired burners to warm the normal air inside their envelopes creating lift. Hot air is less dense and lighter than cold air, and if the difference in temperature is great enough will rise and lift with it the weight of the balloon and its occupants. These colorful craft are the ones spectators usually see at ballooning eventsaround the world.
Rozier balloons, named after their inventor Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, are hybrid systems using a combination of hot air and gas to create lift. The balloon contains an inner gas cell filled with helium surrounded by a larger hot-air envelope filled with warm air heated by a hot air balloon-type burner. The burner heats the air around the gas cell, minimizing the expansion and contraction of the gas cell and helping to limit the loss of gas. This extends the
amount of time the balloon can remain in the air. The burner also helps to control the balloon’s altitude. Rozier balloons were used for most successful transoceanic flights and all the successful non-stop balloon flights around the world.
Who built the balloon?
The balloon envelope (the balloon itself) and basket were built in Pennsylvania by master gas balloon craftsman Bert Padelt and his wife Joanie with the help of several ballooning friends. It is made of approximately 1,200 yards of 4.25/ounce per square yard nylon taffeta with a supporting structural webbing (load tapes); both fabric and load tapes are conductive. The balloon’s volume is 90,000 cubic feet (about 2,459 cubic meters), or about two and a half times the size of the balloons used for competitions such as the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett and the America’s Challenge. The basket measures 60 inches by 80 inches (5 feet x
6.5 feet, or about 1.5 meters x 2 meters), and is extremely lightweight; around 150 pounds. In addition to the pilots and equipment, the balloon will carry 3,600 pounds of sand ballast and 26 gallons of drinking water, some of which could also serve as ballast. A valve at the top of the balloon can be briefly opened to release gas for maneuvering, and the balloon has two deflation ports that will be used to deflate the balloon at the end of the flight.
Why fly in an open basket?
Many transatlantic attempts and flights have been flown using open baskets or gondolas including Double Eagle II in 1978. Bert Padelt and Peter Cuneo have both flown thousands of miles in open basket balloons, including flights over open water. Using an open basket helps to reduce the system weight, allowing the balloon to carry additional ballast and improving its duration.
Hydrogen? Is it safe?
Hydrogen has been the gas of choice for gas balloonists in Europe for decades if not centuries. Also, since 2012 when deregulation made helium prohibitively scarce and expensive, virtually all gas balloon flights in the United States have been conducted using hydrogen. In a properly constructed conductive balloon system, inflated and piloted correctly and flown in good weather conditions, hydrogen has been proven to be safe. However, hydrogen is a more volatile gas than helium and must be handled with care and respect. Although Atlantic Explorer 2026, if it succeeds, will be the first manned crossing of a hydrogen balloon, hydrogen was used safely to cross the Atlantic many times by dirigibles in the early
1900s. The explosion that destroyed the Hindenburg in 1937 is an obvious exception, but an extremely rare event that occurred on landing. It should be noted that dirigibles are steerable aircraft which, unlike balloons, can travel in directions other than the way the wind is blowing.
What navigation and communications equipment does the balloon carry?
Like all aircraft, the balloon carries instruments that report its altitude, rate of climb and descent, heading and speed, radio equipment for communication with air traffic control and transponders that report the balloon’s position. These include portable aircraft VHF and HF radios and ham radio to provide backup and emergency communications. The balloon has an emergency locator beacon and each pilot wears a personal locator device. The balloon will carry a Starlink satellite system to provide high speed internet service for communications with their meteorologists and Flight Control team. Tracking software reports the balloon’s position in near real time to the Flight Control team and to the general public via the team’s website and social media sites. The balloon carries carry two satellite phones and
cell phones through which the pilots can text through WhatsApp.
About the flight:
How does a gas balloon fly?
Straight gas balloons like Atlantic Explorer 2026 use a lighter-than-air gas to generate lift, in this case hydrogen, the lightest of the gases. As the balloon flies, the gas expands and contracts with heat. In the morning as the sun warms the balloon, the gas inside expands and the balloon gains altitude. If the balloon becomes too full, hydrogen automatically vents through the appendix at the bottom of the envelope, and the pilots can also if necessary release small amounts of hydrogen through a valve at the top of the balloon to stay in themost favorable winds.
As the sun goes down, the opposite occurs: the gas contracts and the balloon loses altitude. To counteract this effect, the pilots must get rid of weight. For this purpose the balloon carries ballast (expendable weight), mostly in the form of sand, which is poured out to make the balloon lighter. The sand is carried in 120 color-coded bags which help the pilots keep track of how much sand they have used during the flight. Depending on the weather and flight profile, the balloon will most likely carry about 3.600 pounds (1,633 kg) of sand. It also carries 26 gallons of water for drinking and use as ballast. In an emergency anything that has weight can be used as ballast, and history demonstrates that balloonists have tossed equipment, food, and even pieces of the gondola overboard to stay aloft. In one of the earliest great balloon flights, the first gas balloon crossing of the
English Channel in the late eighteenth century, pilots Blanchard and Jefferies famously landed in their underwear!
At what altitude will the balloon fly?
The altitudes are expected to vary between 5,000 to 16,000 feet above sea level, depending on the time of day, weather, and wind conditions. Typically, higher winds are at higher altitudes. The initial plan is that the team will work its way up to higher altitudes as the flight progresses. However, the actual altitudes will be decided at launch time and as the flight continues based on weather conditions.
How long will the flight last?
It depends on the wind speeds prevailing during the flight, but it is likely that the transatlantic crossing could take five to six days.
How do the pilots use weather information?
The pilots remain in close contact with their weather team and with Flight Control throughout the flight, talking with them every few hours. The team’s meteorologists, Don Day and Randy Lefevre, are two of the top experts in the world in analyzing weather and determining trajectories for long-distance balloon flights. These experts provide the pilots with weather data and options for
applying that data, especially as it relates to current and forecasted wind speeds and directions at various altitudes. The pilots then use this information to make in-flight adjustments and decisions. One analogy balloonists sometimes use is that the pilots drive the bus and the weather forecasters provide the route.
The meteorologists also watch carefully for changes in the overall weather pattern and especially any storms the balloon could encounter. The accuracy of weather forecasting is much improved from the early days of transoceanic flight, which greatly improves the pilots’ safety and chance of success. Still, as anyone who watches their local TV weathercasts knows, there can be surprises along the way.
How does the Flight Control team support the pilots?
Flight Control team members Kevin Stass, Tomas Hora, Clive Bailey, and Jonathan Harris, who are primarily based in England, are responsible for the ground-based support of the mission. They monitor aeronautical charts to keep the pilots informed of any airspace restrictions, help facilitate contact with the FAA and air traffic controllers, manage live tracking of the balloon’s position, and initiate and help to coordinate search and rescue operations should that become necessary. Once the balloon lands, Flight Control helps to guide the chase crew to the balloon and facilitate retrieval of the pilots and equipment. The team also includes meteorologists Don Day and Randy Lefevre, technology specialists Charles Willard and Jay Willmott, and press officer Kim Vesely, who are based in the United States.
What other support does the team have?
Launching a balloon like Atlantic Explorer 2026 requires the help of a skilled team of volunteers to inflate the balloon and ready it and its associated equipment for flight. Once the launch becomes imminent, these volunteers will converge on Presque Isle to perform this vital task. As the balloon nears the end of its journey, volunteers in Europe will stand ready to retrieve the pilots and their equipment. The pilots’ families, friends, and balloon crew members in their hometowns provide vital moral and emotional support.
What happens if the balloon lands in the ocean?
In the event it becomes necessary for the balloon to ditch, the balloonists’ survival gear includes survival (immersion) suits, life vests, an inflatable life raft, portable VHF and HF aircraft and ham radios, and E-PIRB (personal locator devices) that send out GPS coordinates as well as a signal. The pilots have trained to use this equipment in case of an emergency. Flight Control remains in contact with air traffic controllers and can call on military, maritime and other resources that can provide search and rescue assistance in case of an emergency.
Life Aboard the Balloon:
What are the pilots’ living quarters like?
The three pilots’ home for the duration of the flight (estimated at five to six days) is a 60 by 80-inch (5 feet x 6.5 feet, or about 1.5 meters x 2 meters) aluminum frame basket open to the outside air. Most closets are bigger! A narrow bench runs along one side of the basket under which one of the pilots can sleep. Flight instruments, radio equipment, and essential gear like oxygen tanks are ranged around the inside of the basket, and the team’s clothing, survival gear, food, water, and other items hang outside, along with the 120 bags of precious
sand used as ballast (expendable weight) to maneuver the balloon. Also hanging outside is a 150-foot thick heavy rope, the trail rope used in landing the balloon at the end of the flight. The cargo also includes two folding aluminum lawn chairs that provide, in addition to extra seating, a bit of tradition: the Double Eagle teams carried similar chairs in their gondolas during their transatlantic and transpacific flights. One author called these chairs “one of the expedition’s least sophisticated, least expensive, and most useful items of equipment.”
How will the pilots stay warm and oxygenated?
The pilots are accustomed to flying in cold weather and have appropriate clothing, including water-resistant jackets and warm headwear and footwear. They dress in layers and have hand and foot warmers available. At night they can lower a lightweight plastic rain skirt from the balloon’s load ring which covers the basket and retains heat as well as keeping off moisture and condensation. The balloon carries supplemental oxygen on board; the team members will use oxygen to help them breathe when flying at higher altitudes.
What do the pilots eat while aloft?
The pilots will carry hikers’ meals, fresh fruit, beef jerky, energy bars, and other quick and easy foods to eat, as well as personal comfort foods to snack on. Avoiding dehydration during the flight will be very important, so the pilots carry lots of water, sports and electrolyte replenishing drinks, and other beverages. However, on long-distance balloon flights pilots tend to not get very hungry because of the flight altitude and the limited space in the gondola to move around.
What sanitary facilities are on board?
The balloon carries a simple toilet.
What about sleep?
The pilots have sleeping bags on board, and a sleeping space under the bench that runs the length of the basket. They work and sleep in shifts, with one pilot flying, one resting but on call and available to help out as needed, and one sleeping. The pilots try to get as much rest as possible, since they will be in the air many days and must be alert and able to land the balloon safely at the end of the flight. In practice, “good sleep” is hard to come by, and the team is likely to be quite tired at the end of the flight.
What communication do the pilots have with the outside world?
The team expects to be in frequent touch with Flight Control, their weather team, and air traffic controllers. The pilots also hope to be able to exchange quick messages with family members. Aside from these necessary conversations, as long-distance flights progress the “real world” both literally and figuratively tends to fall away. Peter Cuneo and his wife Barbara Fricke wrote in 2008,” By the third day a form of mental and physical isolation is setting in. It is a removal from the world on the ground almost like solitary confinement… Our world is how much ballast we have left, where we will land and what the weather conditions will be as we
descend.”
Do the pilots have any time to just relax and enjoy the view?
Not much. The balloon requires continual monitoring while in flight as weather conditions and the day-to-night cycle changes; they are also required to keep air traffic controllers abreast of their position and plans. However, the pilots might slip a book or some music on board just in case there’s a bit of down time.
Is there any privacy?
Uh, no! Balloonists who engage in long-distance flights say that one of the hardest parts of the flight is being confined in a closet-sized space that doubles as living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom with (in this case) two other people and no escape. Even when, as is the case with Atlantic Explorer 2026, the pilots are friends and pursuing a common goal, history demonstrates the togetherness can become taxing.
Any unusual or interesting items aboard?
Balloonists can be a superstitious lot and they need all the luck they can get. Transoceanic pilots since the Double Eagle days have carried personal mementos and talismans on their epic flights. Bert and Joanie Padelt traditionally sew a silver dollar into the envelopes of balloons intended for use in world record attempts, and Atlantic Explorer 2026 has one. In keeping with a tradition started by Double Eagle pilots and New Mexicans Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson, the team has a small chile ristra on board. Stringing chiles and hanging them to dry is traditional in the U.S. Southwest, and ristras symbolize welcome, health, and good luck. In a nod to another tradition, the team will carry “balloon mail”: flight covers that
commemorate the flight. Its design echoes that of the flight covers Ed Yost, generally considered the father of modern hot air ballooning, carried on his near-successful transatlantic attempt in 1976, 50 years ago. Alicia Hempleman-Adams will be monitoring scientific experiments designed to collect air samples for a project it is hoped will lead to the discoveryof new natural proteins for use in medicines, biofuels, bioplastics, and agritech.
What do the balloonists families and friends think of the idea?
Bert’s wife Joanie Padelt, Peter’s wife Barbara Fricke, and Alicia’s father Sir David Hempleman-Adams are all hot air and gas balloon pilots who understand the challenges involved in the flight. Their family members and friends have experienced many years of the Atlantic Explorer 2026 pilots’ previous adventures and have been supportive of this latest venture.