The world record for Hot Air Balloon takeoff was beaten on Friday in Chambley, in eastern France, with simultaneous take off of 456 balloons, surpassing the previous record of 433 takeoffs established two years ago at this demonstration.
“We are constantly growing, it is a great pride because this record, we stood there a lot” , commented the organizer of the biennial Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons, Philippe Buron-Pilâtre, who certified the record to the side of a bailiff at 9 am. The event, the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world, had nevertheless started inauspiciously. The bad weather had forced organizers to postpone twice the record attempt on Sunday and Wednesday. Despite Friday gray sky, the wind was low enough to attempt the feat. “We were a little afraid, because in general the attempt takes place the first week, when there is the greatest number of pilots” , welcomed Mr. Buron-Pilâtre, descendant of the author of the first human flight in a balloon in 1783 in Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre Rozier. “The work of implementation is daunting. It took 45 minutes to get all vehicles with balloons on the runway” , he said.
The 456 balloons were aligned on four lines of more than 6 kilometers. One little blunder when trying: the balloon of an English balloon pilot collided with a power line. The balloon was damaged, but the accident has no injuries. “Going against shell casing, then fly with friends, it is a unique feeling. The flight went very well, the weather was great,” enthused one of the drivers, Christophe Holvoet, from Belgium shortly after landing his boat. Be careful though. “No vision was almost vertical, and we must not only pod collides with an envelope, because it may tear. You have to be extremely vigilant, especially at takeoff” ,
More than forty-five nationalities were represented at the feat and thousands of onlookers, some of which have offered a balloon baptism for the occasion, had moved from 6am to watch the show.
Nouveau record du monde : 456 montgolfières se sont élancées simultanément pic.twitter.com/Mo3MbHbo3j
— CNEWS (@CNEWS) July 28, 2017
