The Double Eagle II completed the first transatlantic balloon
flight when it landed in a barley field near Paris, 137 hours
after lifting off from Presque Isle, Maine.
The helium-filled balloon was piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie
Anderson and Larry Newman and flew 3,233 miles in the six-
day odyssey.
Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman arrival
in France.
Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John
Jeffries traveled from Dover, England, to Calais, France,
in a gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English
Channel by air.
The two men nearly crashed into the Channel along the
way, however, as their balloon was weighed down by
extraneous supplies such as anchors, a nonfunctional
hand-operated propeller, and silk-covered oars with
which they hoped they could row their way through the
air.
Just before reaching the French coast, the two balloonists
were forced to throw nearly everything out of the balloon,
and Blanchard even threw his trousers over the side in a
desperate, but apparently successful, attempt to lighten
the ship.
John Jeffries
The Double Eagle II completed the first transatlantic balloon flight
when it landed in a barley field near Paris, 137 hours after lifting
off rom Presque Isle, Maine. The helium-filled balloon was piloted
by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman and flew
3,233 miles in the six-day odyssey.
Three American airmen arrive in Paris after crossing the
Atlantic in their air balloon ‘Double Eagle II. They are Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman.
