TransAtlantic Balloon crossing

[roquefort01]

For all North Atlantic Nat-trackers and others.

Ladies and gentlemen,

For those of you plying the North Atlantic over the next few weeks, please be advised that there will hopefully be an attempt to cross west to east by a helium balloon commanded by Deborah (Debbie) Scholes with her partially-sighted husband as crew-mate. The balloon is the first in its class, R77GB and is registered as G-ZOZO. It can be flown as a gas balloon or for the Atlantic crossing, with the cone fitted, as a Rozier balloon. A Rozier balloon gains its lift from a helium cell in its top. Altitude is controlled by a small propane-fired burner that warms the air in the cone below the gas cell. A satellite tracker will enable everyone to watch the balloon’s progress. You can read all about the proposed crossing by googling transatlanticballoonchallenge

Departure will be from Sussex, New Brunswick and is of course wind and weather conditional, but the target date is June 7th, and the crossing may take up to 6 days.

Being an ex Nat-Tracker myself, (long-retired now), I`ve told Debbie about 123.45 and she knows about 121.5 of course, so you may just hear her making a request for a radio relay as you to or fro. I`m sure you`ll help.

Other ladies have made the crossing by balloon, but it`s believed Debbie will be the first to do so `in command`.

Many thanks!

[deltahotel]

Blimey. Good luck. Will the FR24 call sign be the balloon reg?

[Consol]

I'll listen out, please keep us updated here.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Well if were a choice between the balloon or the middle seat in a 10 across 777 economy cabin, I’m thinking the balloon sounds pretty good 😊

[Flyhighfirst]

Well if were a choice between the balloon or the middle seat in a 10 across 777 economy cabin, I’m thinking the balloon sounds pretty good 😊

I would take stuck in the hold rather than the balloon. Makes me shudder thinking about it.

[burgerbun]

Best of luck to them! :ok:

[jolihokistix]

Looks interesting. Wondering where they were headed, I followed the link and found the destination: the eastern side of the Atlantic.

[sudden twang]

What sort of crossing altitude will Debbie be at ?

[Dave Gittins]

The website says varying altitudes to take advantage of different wind directions at different levels in order to "steer". Previous flights had the balloon up to a max of FL 230. Jeez in a 1.75 m x 1.2 m wicker basket Brrrrrrr

[Herod]

Braver people than me. Best of luck Debbie and Mike. I'll be following this, but from the comfort of Terra Firma.

[rugmuncher]

Good luck and all the best.

Balloon challenge (https://www.transatlanticballoonchallenge.com/)

[roquefort01]

Debbie says they expect to start off between 5,000 and 10,000, and that they could go up into the 20,000s if necessary but it would not be for long due to the temperature. They will vary their altitude to find winds blowing in the desired direction, in other words so they can steer.

Their meteorologist, with whom they should be able to maintain contact, will have an important role to play as the flight progresses.

She doesn`t care where they make landfall on the European side of the pond as that`s in the will of the Gods to a degree, but hopes it will be somewhere `interesting`, like Norway perhaps, or the west coast of France, or northern Spain or Portugal.

Their call sign will be Golf - Zulu Oscar Zulu Oscar, they requested that registration some years ago because it looks a bit like 2020 and that was the year they originally planned to do this trip. But along came Covid, and then last year there was a world shortage of helium, so the windows in those years were abandoned, and here we are now in 2023.

[Zombywoof]

Jeez in a 1.75 m x 1.2 m wicker basket BrrrrrrrIt will be easy to heat such a small space, but... wicker burns! Aiee!!

[bille1319]

Why risk this when it has all being done 45 years ago?

[hobbit1983]

Why risk this when it has all being done 45 years ago?

"Because it is there!" :ok:

[621andy]

Why risk this when it has all being done 45 years ago?
Why do people keep climbing Everest, or rowing across oceans:rolleyes:

Best of luck to them. As a hot air driver I have great respect for my gas colleagues who are happy to spend days in a basket...

[Ancient Observer]

A lot of hot air?

[Expatrick]

Why risk this when it has all being done 45 years ago?

The thing is that all the greatest absolute firsts have been done - so now it's down to the first in each & every category - next, first vegan to pedalo the Pacific!

[Zombywoof]

Will they become rich from this? Nope.

Do they know this? Maybe.

Should they be discouraged? No, why?

Will they perish? Possibly, in which case they'll join a lot of others who pushed the envelope.

[B Fraser]

Good luck with the challenge. A colleague and I attempted to fly to Ireland from the edge of the London CTR back in the early 2000's using a 300,000 cubic foot balloon. We could find no record of a westbound crossing so it was to be an aviation "first". The fuel consumption was higher than expected and we hit severe turbulence over the Welsh mountains causing us to climb and swing right. With our fuel state now doubtful and a projected arrival into the Dublin airspace, we landed (at speed) on a Welsh coastal farm.

We knew it was risky but we planned for every eventuality, including "borrowing" (cough cough) survival gear from Auntie Betty, which was returned and was never missed. It was great fun, all the way from planning with a map laid out on the floor of a Henley curry house to stopping at a favourite Wiltshire pub on the way home for a slap up dinner with the retrieve crew.

I would do it all again, even the small airspace infringement that didn't happen.....honest. Are you planning to dump your empty tanks as you go or take them all the way ? We scrounged our extra tanks and mounted the least valuable on the outside of the basket so they could be jettisoned if needed. The posh titanium tanks were in the centre of the basket for protection. A 50p sheet of orange stickers was handy for marking each empty tank so at a glance, we knew our fuel state.

Don't get your feet wet !

[70 Mustang]

Or maybe that will become the best method to cross the Atlantic after all the oil is used up?

Why don't some extinction rebels do the flight?

[Toggerobs]

Any updates on when the attempt will be starting? finding updates via FB/twitter/etc is next to impossible and their own website is difficult to extract any information from.

[Saab Dastard]

Not before 10 June


Latest News (https://www.transatlanticballoonchallenge.com/news)

[Phil Kemp]

I live in Sussex and have volunteered to assist on the ground crew. We have had a week of terrible weather with strong winds, rain, and fog - but I can actually see blue sky right now for the first time in a few days. We're planning on filling sandbags on Thursday in preparation for the launch, which hopefully might occur before I go to California on business for a couple of days next week.

I'm hoping to get some pictures of the launch and preparation and will be sure to post them here. Quite an amazing undertaking...

[B Fraser]

Here's a pic of our attempt to do London to Ireland. Life raft, immersion suits, transponder, flares, glow sticks, corkscrew etc. were all loaded.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x768/imgp0667_dcc5bc4841d676b0495e8f5498e5fb1cb7e7ba9e.jpg
When LPG was cheap.

[B Fraser]

Me calling the crew from the Welsh coast, asking that they don't board the ferry.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x768/imgp0678_c633694536d49e90ec6675c3c5ff27e89b5b10e0.jpg
Well Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.

[Asturias56]

I'll bet you never ate another cabbage again..................

[Asturias56]

Or maybe that will become the best method to cross the Atlantic after all the oil is used up?

Why don't some extinction rebels do the flight?

It runs on gas - all those burners................

[Phil Kemp]

I attended the initial ground crew briefing last night, so got to meet the crew and see the balloon firsthand. My pictures are too large to post here on PPRuNe, so here's a Facebook link for anyone who might be interested. Very cool mission.

Phil Kemp FB post (https://www.facebook.com/phil.kemp3/posts/pfbid02P7HrAPUKup8Jka9HjotPXGBYtnxE32kEjiTXRWQv5eWVG9Fr6gz4o SpohYHrfYyil)

[B Fraser]

I note you have Luc Trullemans doing your met. IIRC, he played a major part in the only circumnavigation of the globe. I had the pleasure of having dinner with Brian Jones and being enthralled with his account of the flight with Bertrand Picard. Your media team could do no better with Robin Batchelor, an interesting chap with an incredible breadth of experience.

Good winds and speed.

[N707ZS]

I'll bet you never ate another cabbage again..................
Bet the farmer had his hand out for compensation. Hope they weren't Waitrose cabbages!

[B Fraser]

I had my hand out with an offer of compensation but the farmer refused to take a penny. It was an animal food crop and he was just happy that we were perfectly ok. Most farmers are quite happy for non commercial flights to land on their property as we are keen to be on our way as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss. A bottle of wine is usually kept in the retrieve vehicle as a "lubricant".

I did land on one farm close to Henley and was confronted by an angry chap who pointed out that the farm belonged to the local MP. I told him we were three floating voters. I thought it was very funny......he didn't. The other 99% are decent folk. Anyway, I am under the possible flight path for the transatlantic attempt and I am a very friendly landowner. I'll pop the kettle on should the intrepid adventurers should they come my way and I'll rustle up a cooked breakfast for them too.

What's the latest Phil ?

[artee]

I had my hand out with an offer of compensation but the farmer refused to take a penny. It was an animal food crop and he was just happy that we were perfectly ok. Most farmers are quite happy for non commercial flights to land on their property as we are keen to be on our way as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss. A bottle of wine is usually kept in the retrieve vehicle as a "lubricant".

I did land on one farm close to Henley and was confronted by an angry chap who pointed out that the farm belonged to the local MP. I told him we were three floating voters. I thought it was very funny......he didn't. The other 99% are decent folk. Anyway, I am under the possible flight path for the transatlantic attempt and I am a very friendly landowner. I'll pop the kettle on should the intrepid adventurers should they come my way and I'll rustle up a cooked breakfast for them too.

What's the latest Phil ?
Flaoting voters. Love it.

[Phil Kemp]

We are having some glorious late spring weather here in Sussex right now, but there is a high pressure system over Europe that is currently delaying things. The next potential launch date is Saturday 17th, but apparently this is still on the remote side. I'm out of town for a couple of days, then hope to be around for the launch, but will post any updates I hear.

[hobbit1983]

..I did land on one farm close to Henley and was confronted by an angry chap who pointed out that the farm belonged to the local MP. I told him we were three floating voters. I thought it was very funny......he didn't..

:ok: Haha! Brilliant :)

[treadigraph]

the farm belonged to the local MP.

Ah, a good source of hot air then...

Phil Kemp Looking forward to following the flight and my best wishes - can't offer my south London plot as a suitable landing site as it's only 12 x 60' and the neighbours might not be so accommodating!

[Discorde]

Why risk this when it has all being done 45 years ago?

I was there!

Rendezvous with Double Eagle II (https://www.steemrok.com/doubleeagle.pdf)

[roquefort01]

According to their website, transatlanticballoonchallenge, as of today (21st) they`re planning to launch at 1200z, 0900 local on Thursday 22nd, i.e. tomorrow!

[Private jet]

According to their website, transatlanticballoonchallenge, as of today (21st) they`re planning to launch at 1200z, 0900 local on Thursday 22nd, i.e. tomorrow!
More needless, pointless "heroics". If they end up in the Atlantic I guess that they'll want rescuing as well?

[what next]

More needless, pointless "heroics". If they end up in the Atlantic I guess that they'll want rescuing as well?

They picked a good time for that because the north Atlantic is full of rescue vehicles right now.

[Lake1952]

They picked a good time for that because the north Atlantic is full of rescue vehicles right now.

Most of the rescue vehicles have left the scene. Any word on the balloon launch?

[N707ZS]

FYI THURSDAY 22ND JUNE 2023 - FLIGHT UPDATE

The launch of the Transatlantic Balloon Challenge flight has been postponed due to the uncertainty of being able to avoid the Military Exercise area in the East Atlantic Ocean.
The weather in New Brunswick, Canada is looking to become unsettled in the next few days, making a launch of the Transatlantic Balloon Challenge unlikely. A further update will follow when we have a clearer idea of the weather going into next week.
In the meantime, we would like to thank everyone for their kind messages of support.

[MrBernoulli]

"THURSDAY 29TH JUNE 2023 - FLIGHT UPDATE

Taking into consideration the current forecasts available, the Transatlantic Balloon Challenge will sadly not launch before Wednesday 5th July. A further flight update will be posted on Tuesday 4th July."

https://www.transatlanticballoonchallenge.com/news

[sealo0]

Flight Update 11th July.

in short may go tomorrow 13th depending on wind.

[sealo0]

It’s a go today @ 0900 Sussex NB Atlantic Daylight Time

[treadigraph]

Fair winds!

[Phil Kemp]

All unwrapped and ready to go. I'll be heading down to the launch shortly, will post some pictures once I get settled at the airport - I'm flying to Shetland today, so just catching the launch with no time to spare! Everything looks good as soon as this little morning fog lifts.

[India Four Two]

CBC News report on the preparations:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/transatlantic-balloon-flight-departs-sussex-1.6885291

[Phil Kemp]

And they're off. Quick climb out and they vanished into the mist. Safe flying Debbie and Mike! You can follow them here.
https://www.gtctrack.com/s/BL10#history/assets

[jolihokistix]

Great link. Thanks.

Past Moncton, 30+ mph, at 14,000 ft, and heading towards Prince Edward Island, and then open water,... Bon Voyage! :ok:

[Phil Kemp]

I'm sitting on a flight in Moncton and can't upload any pictures, because they're too large for this site. I'll be editing and putting up more on Facebook if anyone is interested. An incredible undertaking, by two very normal, focused individuals, with an amazing aircraft and an extremely well planned mission.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0sfVCo17FF66hiRjJ4xA5SZ9g8yji1VCM3 7fg7tV7toYsKJWyx8xMvPm12QkPBn69l&id=1414574422&mibextid=Nif5oz

[jolihokistix]

With my iPhone I can choose picture size before uploading here.
(Blocked. Don't do FB, apologies.)

PS Heading round to pass over Anne of Green Gables country! ?

[Out Of Trim]

Does the balloon have a transponder for ATC? Nothing seen on R24…

[gums]

Great question, and the website has decent tracking.

Still, basic FR24 would be easier and less ads and...

Gums...

[B Fraser]

Wow !

I'll have the kettle on for you if you make landfall close by.

[netstruggler]

Making 20kph or so ATM and not entirely in the right direction.

[jolihokistix]

Definitely slowed…

[Phil Kemp]

Due to problems with the balloon, Mike and Debbie had to make a forced, controlled landing in Newfoundland. They have been recovered by helicopter and are both safe and well.
https://www.facebook.com/100063568417658/posts/pfbid0tX4vb1kviq3UECv1uwseUgffGHqncX2QQo31jBQe8RdBX9pF4z2vE5 c6u9ES9cugl/?mibextid=Nif5oz

[jolihokistix]

Phew, at least they managed to get the brakes on anchor down safely while still some dry land left…!

[N707ZS]

Good to hear they are safe.

[Lake1952]

Wow, they could have put it down at Gander! Tracked right over....

[B Fraser]

Glad to learn that both are safe. Can the problem be resolved and another attempt made ? Can any details of the issue be shared ?

[treadigraph]

Sorry that they needed to abandon their attempt but, with "Free Life" in mind, a good decision and hopefully another try later...

[India Four Two]

"Balloonists safe after scratching transatlantic-crossing bid in Newfoundland"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-transatlantic-balloon-down-over-newfoundland-1.6913506