No hot air! Explorer’s bid to cross the Atlantic in balloon
A VETERAN British explorer will attempt the first flight across the Atlantic in an open basket hydrogen gas balloon next month.
Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 66, was the first person to complete the Adventurers’ Grand Slam – climbing the highest peak on each continent, including Everest and Kilimanjaro, and reaching the geographic and magnetic North and South Poles.
His latest challenge is expected to take four to five days – and will also involve collecting air samples as part of a scientific study.
‘This is what keeps us feeling young at heart and fired up to enjoy every minute on this Earth,’ he said.
Sir David will make the journey in The Torabhaig Atlantic Explorer balloon with two long-time friends – American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and 72-year-old Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen.
They will start in the north-eastern US state of Maine, flying at an altitude of 6,000 to 8,000 feet over Newfoundland, Canada, across the Atlantic and landing in Europe.
If successful, it will be the first Atlantic crossing in a hydrogen balloon and may mark the longest distance covered in this type of balloon.
Sir David will also become the only person to have flown across the Atlantic three times in an open basket balloon.
He first achieved the feat in 2003 and completed it again in 2007.
The crew, with a combined age of more than 200, could also be the oldest people to cross the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon.
The explorer, from Wiltshire, said he and his crew are becoming ‘more adventurous with age’.
Sir David added: ‘People think we’re kind of crazy to be doing this but it really does make you feel alive to be pushing the boundaries and seeing just what is possible at any age.’
During the journey, the team will collect air samples for a new study supported by biological data company Basecamp Research.
It is hoped that these samples will help to uncover new microbes that could lead to the discovery of natural proteins, which could then be used to develop new products such as medicines, biofuels or bioplastics.