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Francisco Álvarez

In 1987,  Richard Branson crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon at the age of 36. He made the trip in the company of Swede Per Lindstrand, who was the balloon’s designer. The ‘Virgin Atlantic Flyer’ was the first ever hot air balloon trip attempting to successfully complete the Atlantic crossing. The balloon achieved speeds of more than 130 mph, after riding the jet-stream over 3,000 miles across the ocean in such a record-breaking flight. The balloon was also the biggest that had ever flown, with a total volume of 2.3m cubic feet.

However, balloonists Richard Branson and Per Linstrand had to parachute from their balloon into the Irish sea just two miles (3.2km) off Scotland.  Previously, the Virgin Atlantic Flyer had descended from 27,000 feet, gouged the ground, jettisoned two fuel tanks and narrowly missed a house and power lines before swooping back into the air and towards Rathlin Island. The device lost its flotation bags after an unsuccessful attempt to land on a beach on the island. After that, the hot air balloon was gaining altitude again, only to sink down to the waves, dragging the pair through the water at 100mph. Co-pilot, Swedish Per Lindstrad baled out, but the balloon started a steep ascent before Branson could follow.
Branson prepared to parachute out, but instead piloted the craft back towards the water before throwing himself out from 60ft up. The Royal Air Force station at Prestwick (60 km south-west of Glasgow) reported that Richard Branson and Per Linstrand went up to 3,000 feet and chose to parachute out.

Both adventurers managed to survive their leap, and were picked up from the sea by a Royal Navy ship, HMS Argonaut, on standby in the area, and flown to the hospital.

At the time, there was uncertainty regarding whether the pair had been successful in their record attempt. As the balloon had briefly touched the ground in Northern Ireland the team believed their flight had succeeded, but the International Aeronautical Federation required landings to take place on either land or fresh water, with an intact craft. In the end, the record was approved.

These two pieces of Virgin Atlantic Flyer were given to me by my mother, who worked with the mother of the young Naval mechanic on HMS Argonaut, the ship that salvaged the balloon from the sea after it crashed in 1987. They have been stored in a photo wallet for all these years. There are photos on the balloon in the sea and the newspaper cutting detailing the salvage operation.

England - 13 July 1987

Two pieces of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Flyer hot air balloon, photos and newspaper cutting - Textiles

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Two pieces of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Flyer hot air balloon, photos and newspaper cutting - Textiles

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