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Cluster Flight Announced!
After the tremendous success of his last flight, Jonathan Trappe will be launching another Cluster Balloon Flight in August 2008!
The flight will be part of the 14th Annual Marshall County Hot-Air Affair, a well attended component of the 500,000 person Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Indiana. The annual event is held over Labor Day weekend, and the gas cluster launch is scheduled for sunrise on Sunday, August 31st, 2008.
If you would like to participate in this cluster launch, please contact us and a member of our team will follow up with you. This looks to be a wonderful place to launch a cluster balloon flight, and an interesting festival to attend!
In the spirit of the Blueberry Festival, the cluster for this flight will consist of 40 beautiful blue and white cluster balloons.
Trappe will again be flying the SPOT Satellite tracker, and during flight he can be tracked in real-time here.
Hydrogen Gas Flight Announced!
Jonathan Trappe will be conducting a private test launch and training flight in Germany from August 21-25th 2008. This flight will be under a ‘standard gas balloon’-- a 1,000 cu/meter hydrogen filled balloon, and will be Trappe’s first opportunity to test individual cluster balloon cells using hydrogen.
This flight will be conducted with the gracious participation of experienced gas balloon pilots from the United States and Belgium. Flying the standard gas balloon in Germany will allow Trappe to fly under a type-certified aircraft while testing two ‘cluster balloon cells’ using hydrogen instead of helium.
"Chairway to Heaven" [Full Story]
Cluster Balloon Launch, June 7th 2008
Early in the morning of June 7th, from an airfield in Franklin County North Carolina, Jonathan Trappe launched his standard, unmodified office chair under a cluster of 55 helium balloons, and took to the skies! The 4-hour flight attainted an altitude approaching 15,000 feet and covered a ground track of approximatly 50 miles. The flight was equipped with a transponder, aircraft radio, parachute, and a high-altitude oxygen system; the entire flight was conducted in full compliance with all Federal Aviaiton Regulations-- and was a tremendous success!
A detailed debrief of the flight can be found in the upcoming September/October issue of "BALLOONING" Magazine!
Cluster Balloon: 55 balloons, 12,045 cu/ft (Helium)
Media Coverage:
Appearance Opportunities:
“Flying a gas balloon is unlike any other experience. There is no sound. No propellers, no jet engines. No burner, no heart-thumping rotors of a helicopter. Not even the wind that gliders experience. This is true, silent flight.
For a child, a cluster balloon flight embodies all the magic in the world. In an adult’s eyes, a cluster balloon launch reminds of a dream so many of us once had, but has grown quiet.
When you launch a balloon, part of the wonder is that you do not know where you will land. You are carried with the wind, towards destinations unknown. It is a wonderful adventure, and it is the most pure form of flight.
If you host a hot-air balloon festival, or gas balloon event, and would be interested in hosting a cluster flight, please contact me with your ideas. My passion is flight, and I look forward to my next cluster balloon flight.
Sincerely,
Jonathan R. Trappe
Cluster Balloonist"
About Jonathan
Jonathan Trappe is an FAA certified pilot, with a specific rating for Lighter-Than-Air: Free Balloons. Trappe’s first balloon was a Cameron M-34 ‘Cloudhopper,’ one of the tremendously beautiful and exhilarating one-man hot-air balloons.
In addition, Trappe has completed specific gas balloon training and has flown under multiple lighter-than-air gasses. Gas balloon flights have included flying time in congested ‘Class C’ airspace, with approval from air traffic control, and solo flights to approximately 15,000 feet.
All flights are conducted within strict compliance of all Federal Aviation Regulations, and the FAA is always contacted before a cluster launch. Safety equipment in flight includes two-way aircraft radios, altitude encoding transponder, aviator’s breathing oxygen, pilot parachute, gps, and emergency locator beacon. To date and going forward, Trappe’s flights are always run with a primary focus on safety.
Flights
Trappe Flights:
Highlight flights include:
Cloudhopper: 34,000 cu/ft (hot-air): Cameron M-34 Cloudhopper N2011J, named 'Juliet.' (That story had a happy ending, didn't it?) Trappe's first hot-air balloon.
Gas balloon, 14,000 cu/ft (Helium): This small helium balloon has been flown to several world records by world-class balloonist Troy Bradley. When we flew together in this balloon, in May of 2008, we launched the first standard gas balloon to take-off in the Carolinas in over 20 years.
Cluster Balloon: 12,045 cu/ft (Helium
Historic Flights:
Dr. Jean Piccard flew the first gas cluster balloon system on July 18th, 1937. Dr. Piccard was a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Minnesota, and an eminent balloonist. Clearly a brilliant man, Dr. Piccard flew a two-tier hydrogen system of about 95 cells. Interestingly, Dr. Piccard rigged a TNT charge between the two tiers of hydrogen balloons. When approaching landing, Dr. Piccard triggered the TNT charge, which freed the top tier of balloons and caused the system to land quite readily. Unfortunately, burning embers from the TNT charge drifted down to the bottom tier of balloons, causing the hydrogen to ignite. The headline the next day read: “DR. PICCARD DOWN ON IOWA TREE-TOP; BALLOON CAR BURNS” Dr. Jean Piccard escaped without injury. [NYT1, NYT2, NYT3]
Twenty years later, Dr. Jean Piccard’s son, Don Piccard, took a a cluster system on a two-hour ride to over 4,000 feet. Don is an accomplished balloonist, and one of the participants in much of early ballooning history. Don’s cluster system flew, landed safely, and garnered the attention of Life Magazine. The October 7th, 1957 edition features a multi-page story on Don’s flight.
Then, there is Larry Walters. Ah, the ill-prepared aviation dreamer, Lawnchair Larry. Larry did two things: launched the modern sport of cluster ballooning, and set it back 10 years. He managed to accomplish these two feats simultaneously. In 1982, while floating close to the surface in a Lawnchair attached to multiple large helium balloons, Larry’s craft accidentally broke free of his tether lines, and Larry shot to approximately 16,000 feet, flew45 minutes in the congested San Diego airspace, landed in power lines, and walked away unharmed. When asked why he did it, Larry is quoted as having said “A man can’t just stay at home.”
