The Gordon Bennett Cup is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the Los Angeles Times. Referred to as the "Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started from Paris, France, on September 30, 1906. The event was sponsored by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the millionaire sportsman and owner of the New York Herald newspaper. According to the organizers, the aim of the contest "is simple: to fly the furthest distance from the launch site." The contest ran from 1906 to 1938, interrupted by World War I and in 1931, but was suspended in 1939 when the hosts, Poland, were invaded at the start of World War II. The event was not resurrected until 1979, when American Tom Heinsheimer, an atmospheric physicist, gained permission from the holders to host the trophy. The competition was not officially reinstated by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) until 1983.
In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that can propel itself through the air in a controlled manner.
A gas balloon is a balloon that rises and floats in the air because it is filled with a gas lighter than air. When not in flight, it is tethered to prevent it from flying away and is sealed at the bottom to prevent the escape of gas. A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small latex party balloons. For nearly 200 years, well into the 20th century, manned balloon flight utilized gas balloons before hot-air balloons became dominant. Without power, heat or fuel, untethered flights of gas balloons depended on the skill of the pilot. Gas balloons have greater lift for a given volume, so they do not need to be so large, and they can stay up for much longer than hot air balloons.
Donald Louis Piccard was a Swiss-born American balloon pioneer, promoter, innovator, designer, builder, and pilot.
Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet, the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the balloon moves with the direction of the winds, the passengers feel absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or speed. Hot air ballooning has been recognized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as the safest air sport in aviation, and fatalities in hot air balloon accidents are rare, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
1997 World Air Games was an international competition of air sports, held between September 15–21, 1997 in Selçuk, Turkey, hosted by Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK). It was the first of World Air Games organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale once every four years. The games marked the first time more than 3000 participants from 60 countries took part in 16 different championship categories at 7 different locations at the same time.
Victor Zagainov was a hot air balloon pilot and astronomer from Kazakhstan. He was the first and only hot air balloon champion of the USSR (1991), Hot Air Balloon champion of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1993), the winner of the International Balloon Grand Prix Todi (Italy) (1993), the champion of the CIS (1996). He organized Grand Prix of Zagainov and was awarded Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship and the FAI Air Sport Medal in 2003.
The European Hot Air Balloon Championships are the FAI European Hot Air Balloon Championship and the FAI Women's European Hot Air Balloon Championship. These biennial events for hot air ballooning are conducted under the direction of the FAI Ballooning Commission.
Gintaras Šurkus is a Lithuanian balloonist and politician.
The World Hot Air Ballooning Championships are the FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship and the FAI Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championship. These biennial events for hot air ballooning are conducted under the direction of the FAI Ballooning Commission.
Agnė Simonavičiūtė is a Lithuanian female balloonist and FAI women's vice world champion.
Daiva Rakauskaitė is a Lithuanian female balloonist.
2014 Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championships was 1st edition of World Hot Air Ballooning Championships for women held in Leszno, Poland from September 8 to September 13, 2014. Total of 16 tasks were held.
Nicola Scaife is an Australian hot air balloonist. She has won the FAI Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championship twice, in 2014 and 2016.
Beata Choma is a Polish ballooning athlete.
David N. Levin was an American balloonist. He is the only balloonist to have completed the "triple crown" by winning the World Gas Balloon Championship, the World Hot Air Ballooning Championships and the Gordon Bennett Cup. In 1992, Levin also became the first balloonist to win ballooning's four major events, having won the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship along with the "triple crown".
3rd FAI Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championship was 3rd edition of World Hot Air Ballooning Championships for women held in Nałęczów, Poland from August 6 to August 11, 2018. Total of 14 tasks were held. Five flights were cancelled due to the weather conditions from August 9 to August 11.
Gabriela Slavec is a Slovenian female ballooning athlete, who became European Champion in 2010.
Dr Janet Folkes was an academic from Nottingham, who held multiple ballooning records. She died in 2012 from cancer.
Eleanor Vadala is an American chemist, materials engineer and balloonist. She became director of research and development at the Naval Air Development Center in Pennsylvania, where she helped to develop light synthetic materials for use in aircraft. One of her jobs was the testing of fabric in existing balloons to ensure they could be used safely.
