Last of Their Kind
Airplanes without equal at the National Air and Space Museum.
- By Patricia Trenner
- Air & Space magazine, August 2012
Eric Long
Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola
In March 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones piloted the Rozier-design Breitling Orbiter 3 to the first nonstop world circumnavigation by free balloon, covering 29,000 miles in under 20 days. During the Breitling Orbiter flight in 1997 and Orbiter 2 in 1998, crews learned that an altitude of 30,000 feet, where the jet stream would drive the balloon across the Pacific Ocean at 100 mph, was likely key to success. Since 1980, 16 balloons had been launched on globe-circling efforts, all of which failed. NASM credits the acquisition of the gondola to the Museum’s previous director, the late Donald Engen, citing “his superb negotiating skills and wide contacts in aviation and business.” Donated by the Breitling Watch Company in 1999; one built.
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Comments (2)
I wasn't sure how I felt about the decision to put the Wright Flyer on the floor instead of hanging it in the main entry hall. When I saw it in October 2011, I was delighted. I could walk all around it and almost touch it! What a treasure!!
Posted by Beverly Wright Coleman on September 8,2012 | 03:26 AM