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The Gordon Bennett Cup, the oldest (gas) hot air balloon race was launched this weekend for the first time in the UK.

Unlike a normal hot air balloon race, the balloons are filled with hydrogen and so 20 took off from a site in Bristol.

The gas balloons are controlled by a primitive system - by releasing gas to go down and throwing out sand from sand bags to go up.

The pilots stand in small wicker baskets equipped with flight instruments, radios, food and warm clothing.

The Gordon Bennett website thanks to all sponsors and supporters, including Bristol City Council, Destination Bristol and J Bennett & Son.

Safety Officer Jonathan Harris said: "The launch sequence went without a hitch and, with the help of each team's crew, the pilots were sent off in to the cold starry night, with all their provsions on board and the sand ballast hooked over the side of the basket."

The Flight Control Centre is set up at Cameron Balloons Ltd. in Bristol and the team, including Air Traffic Control and weather experts are keeping a watchful eye on all the competitors as they fly across Europe.

Don Cameron states "Behind the scene we have a busy flight control team assisting with all the balloons' air traffic requirements."

AirSpace user apgphoto went to tthe launch in June this year

Found in the Flightglobal archive....

• 1909 it costs £20 to enter the race...  
• 1909 Great Britain's Gordon Bennett Balloon
• 1922 winner declared...
• More from Flightglobal's archives on the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race
• Official site including livestreaming, images and team information

If taking to the skies in the traditional wicker basket wasn't enough for you then the first glass bottomed hot air balloon is sure to make the knees wobble.

The balloon with a transparent floor, made its maiden flight at this years' Bristol International Balloon Festa, Europe's biggest balloon festival. The balloon is designed to carry two passengers and two pilots on glass just two inches thick.

Although the Palletways Dragon Balloon won't make it easy to keep your lunch down, compared to other designs at this year's fiesta, it can be considered "sensible". Among the other 150 balloons joining it in the sky are a motorbike with a helmeted rider, a huge wine box, a Jaguar car and a dog. 

The creator of this stomach-wrenching basket was invented by Christian Brown, who despite many years flying balloons, is the first one to admit this is a "terrifying experience". 

As reported by flight in an article written in 1967, looking back out how the balloon fired its way into the skies. In the 1950s NASA first pioneered the hot air balloon as a way of brining its spacemen back to earth after the ship had burnt out, the burner was radio controlled and a total of three re-entries were made using this technique.

In 1960 an American company, Raven Industries used NASA's balloon to begin production. Soon after a British company emulated the success in America and turned hot air ballooning into a sport.

More recently in 2009 the Ultramagic MV-22 hot air balloon brought performance and racing balloons to a new level as a more streamlined shape allowed it to move quicker. 

 

By Alastair Clark, from Dulwich College, currently on work experience with Flightglobal

You know its not your day when your expensive balloon launch goes walkabout in the outback:

 

Read more from ABC News

Next year's Gordon Bennett Ballooning Cup, or Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett, will be held in the UK for the first time in the cup's history.

The cup was inaugurated in 1906 and was frequently held until WW II. It went on hiatus until the 1980s when it was revived. At the 2009 cup, Britons Janet Folkes and Ann-Ruth Rich broke the female duration world record flying for almost 70 hours covering 1,100 kms from Geneva to Madrid.

During their flight they made this excellent video that has some spectacular views.




Flightglobal regularly featured this event in the 1900s. This page from 1909 tells readers about the upcoming event. Stay tuned to Flightglobal for coverage on next year's cup.