[PICS+VIDS] This Man Is Really Flying UP Using Helium Balloons
#FeelGoodFriday: How sweet it is when a simple cartoon inspire real people to do amazing things.
By Mei Mei Chu — 13 Sep 2013, 04:57 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
39-year-old Jonathan Trappe wants to be the first person to fly across the Atlantic ocean via helium balloons
Balloonist Jonathan Trappe, who was attempting to become the first person to fly across the Atlantic using cluster balloons, says he thought he was going to die as he crash landed in complete darkness in Newfoundland, Canada. “Honestly did not know if I would survive...
yahoo.com
39-year-old Jonathan Trapper is on the world's first ever attempt to fly across the Atlantic ocean via helium balloons
Image via wordpress.comThe IT project manager hopes to become the first man to make the 2,500-mile journey by helium alone. Five men have died attempting the feat.
mirror.co.ukA daring aviator today began the world's first ever attempt to cross the Atlantic ocean dangling precariously from a massive cluster of helium-filled balloons.
dailymail.co.ukJonathan Trappe took off from Caribou, Maine, on Thursday morning as his capsule was lifted by 370 helium-filled balloons in heavy fog and he headed east from the US.
theguardian.com
PHOTOS: Jonathan Trappe crossing the Atlantic Ocean using an aircraft made of a cluster of helium balloons
Jonathan Trappe flying high UP in the sky suspended by hundreds of coloured balloons
Image via guim.co.ukOne man, 370 helium balloons, 4000km distance, 7.5km in the air, 7 days, and no specific destination
Seorang jejaka bernama Jonathan Trappe telah membuktikan bahawa dia boleh terbang di udara dengan hanya menggunakan belon yang di isi dengan gas helium.
39-year-old Jonathan Trapper is on the world's first ever attempt to fly across the Atlantic ocean via helium balloons
Image via clusterballoon.comTrappe is attempting the crossing with about 370 balloons. He will pop or release balloons and drop ballast in order to accommodate shifting weather and wind patterns during the crossing.
go.comHis flight, at between 18,000ft and 25,000ft, could take up to seven days and he could land anywhere from Norway to North Africa – or have to ditch in the sea. But Jonathan, 39, hopes to reach Paris, where the first manned balloon was flown in 1783.
mirror.co.ukDepending on the wind currents, Trappe could end up landing anywhere from Morocco to Norway. He estimates the trip will take between three and six days.
go.comTrappe did not have the ability to control the direction of his flight other than by climbing or descending. He could climb by throwing ballast, in the form of sand, overboard and descend by releasing individual balloons.
onlinesentinel.com
The IT project manager says the most dangerous thing is the weather, yet he depends on it to travel
“Two years of work comes down to tonight, and then this flight,” Trappe. “Two years of work, and years more of dreams. My heart could never live a long life the way it is beating now.”
go.com"Weather is absolutely the most dangerous factor," said Trappe, speaking immediately before launch. " It's the only thing that will carry me across, but bad conditions could also ruin the attempt or endanger my life."
theguardian.com
Trappe already holds the record for the longest ever cluster balloon flight of 14 hours, but said: 'This is far greater than anything achieved before, I'm looking at 62 hours or longer.'
dailymail.co.ukPHOTOS: Preparing 370 helium party balloons for his trans-Atlantic journey
WATCH: But this test flight in Mexico convinced him that this trans-Atlantic balloon flight is possible
Last November, he took a test flight in Leon, Mexico. The balloons lifted him as high as 20,000 feet before he descended and landed in a local lake. It was all the proof he needed that a trans-Atlantic trip was possible.
onlinesentinel.com
He once flew a chair, and also a house!
Jonathan Trapper in the window, waving goodbye as he launched the house-- heading to 10,500 feet in manned flight.
Image via clusterballoon.com
Trappe has previously completed successful cluster balloon voyages across the Alps and the English Channel. He and his team waited for over 100 days for just the right weather conditions capable of carrying him across the ocean.
go.comHe already holds the record for the longest-ever cluster balloon flight, which lasted 14 hours and involved balloons tied to an office chair. He also was the man behind making a real-life version of the floating house in Disney-Pixar's "Up."
Five people have died trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean
“This is very serious; it is the great Atlantic Ocean,” Trappe wrote on his website speaking of the danger involved in his record-breaking attempt.
go.com“Five people have lost their lives attempting to cross these waters in a balloon, and two non-pilots were lost into the oceans flying cluster balloons.”
go.comLooks familiar? This mission was very much inspired by the animation UP
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