Man crosses English Channel in chair carried by helium balloons

The flight began with a cluster of colourful balloons tied to a wicker chair and it ended in a cabbage patch.

But this was no fairy tale it was a new world record for the first successful cluster balloon flight over the English Channel.



Snipping off one eight-foot helium filled balloon at a time, Jonathan R. Trappe, descended into a field in Dunkirk, northern France, yesterday morning.

The American adventurer used 55 “chloroprene cloudbuster” balloons and an extensive array of ropes to make the crossing. He set off from Kent Gliding Club near Ashford just after 5am and made land over Dunkirk shortly after 8am.



After landing the 36-year-old said it had been a “tremendous” experience. “Isn’t it everyone’s dream?” he said. “Grabbing on to toy balloons and flying off into open space?”

The aviator was able to “have a chat” with a walker on the White Cliffs of Dover during the flight and narrowly avoided crashing into power lines just before landing.

There are photos of the landing here.