Jonathan Trappe, who is trying to cross the Atlantic in a lifeboat suspended by some 370 multicolored helium balloons, says he has made his first stop-over landing.
Jonathan Trappe lifted off from the city of Caribou in the state of Maine amid heavy fog at dawn on Thursday.
Ten hours later, Jonathan Trappe said on Facebook he had “landed safe” and would spend the night at the undisclosed location.
Ascending up to 25,000ft, Jonathan Trappe hopes to cover his “epic” 2,500-mile trip to Europe within six days.
Jonathan Trappe, an IT manager from North Carolina, has previously completed successful cluster balloon voyages across the Alps and the English Channel.
Depending on weather conditions, Jonathan Trappe could touch down anywhere between Northern Africa and Scandinavia.
“Weather is absolutely the most dangerous factor,” he said minutes before take-off.
“It’s the only thing that will carry me across, but bad conditions could also ruin the attempt or endanger my life.”
The capsule the adventurer is riding in is a lifeboat, which can be used in case he is forced to land over water.
Jonathan Trappe is trying to cross the Atlantic in a lifeboat suspended by some 370 multicolored helium balloons
“This is a serious piece of emergency gear that mariners rely upon to save their lives if their mother ship goes down,” Jonathan Trappe said.
Some 150 volunteers helped to fill the balloons with helium on Wednesday evening.
At sunrise, Jonathan Trappe ascended from a softball field in Caribou, near the Canadian border, in a scene reminiscent of the animated movie Up, in which a house attached to cluster balloons travelled across the skies.
“It was nail-biting waiting for a weather window that would allow me to get up into the air and catch those transatlantic winds we’d been seeing,” he said.
“I need to get on them and ride them across like a conveyor belt.”
By Thursday afternoon, Jonathan Trappe confirmed he was heading toward Newfoundland.
“In the quiet sky, above the great Gulf of St. Lawrence, traveling over 50mph – in my little yellow rowboat, at 18,000 feet,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Jonathan Trappe will drop ballast in order to gain altitude, and pop or release balloons to descend.
He is relying on weather data from the same meteorologist who advised daredevil Felix Baumgartner on his record-breaking skydive from space last year.
Jonathan Trappe said it took him “two years of work and years more of dreams” to prepare for his journey.
“My heart could never live a long life the way it is beating now,” he wrote on his website.
“I have been looking at an epic challenge – one that honestly may prove to be beyond me – and I’ve changed my entire life to make it happen.”
But he also spoke of the dangers involved in his record-breaking attempt.
“Five people have lost their lives attempting to cross these waters in a balloon, and two non-pilots were lost into the oceans flying cluster balloons,” he said.
Jonathan Trappe’s flight can be tracked live via satellite.
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Twenty people were injured, with seven being hospitalized, when a promotional stunt in Seoul for LG’s G2 smartphone went wrong, the company has said.
LG has cancelled a series of events promoting the handset as a result of the incident in Seoul on Friday.
People arrived with BB guns and knives on sticks for a race to grab smartphone vouchers hanging from helium balloons.
LG has taken responsibility for the situation and said it would cover related medical costs.
“LG Electronics deeply regrets that a number of Korean participants were injured during an outdoor promotional event in Seoul, Korea,” a statement from the company said.
“We can confirm that seven participants were hospitalized and, although none of the injuries were serious, LG takes full responsibility for the unfortunate situation and has offered to cover all related medical expenses.
People arrived with BB guns and knives on sticks for a race to grab LG G2 smartphone vouchers hanging from helium balloons
“LG is investigating the incident to ensure that such an occurrence can be avoided in the future.”
The company added that other planned events had been called off because of safety concerns.
LG released 100 helium balloons, each with a free smartphone voucher, at the so-called G in the Cloud event, which took place in an outdoor park in the South Korean capital city.
The phones, which sell for KRW 950,000 in South Korea ($851), would be given to people in possession of the voucher, the company said.
Customers arrived with BB guns to shoot down the balloons and surged forward when they were released.
One person carried a pointed staff to the event.
One regional TV channel has dubbed the scrum “World War G” – a comparison to the film World War Z in which zombies scramble over each other to climb over a wall.
The handset was released in New York last week, after weeks of build-up on social media.
It is expected to be available globally with more than 130 carriers within several weeks.
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Jonathan Trappe, a cluster-balloonist who became the first person to fly the English Channel, has launched a house into the sky just like in the Disney movie Up.
Intrepid Jonathan Trappe, 38, took off just like the 78-year-old character Carl Frederickson in the hit movie.
Jonathan Trappe, from Raleigh, North Carolina, stepped into the cartoon themed home before soaring above the Leon International Balloon festival in Mexico yesterday.
He was using the event as a warm-up for his planned trans-Atlantic flight scheduled for next summer.
Jonathan Trappe aims to complete the 2,500 mile journey across the pond in a seven foot lifeboat carried by 365 huge helium balloons.
He has invested $170,000 into his Atlantic dream, for which he’s been training his whole career, and now he’s launching a site so ordinary people can play their part this amazing adventure.
Jonathan Trappe is learning to sail a lifeboat, in case he needs to ditch into the ocean during the danger-filled mission.
The unique gondola will have an open roof for take-off but a canopy to protect Trappe from high-altitude winds and frost bite during the crossing.
The daredevil will fly at between 18,000ft and 25,000ft, beating his previous world altitude record of 21,600ft, and must fly uninterrupted a distance ten times longer than his previous world record of 230 miles in order to succeed.
Jonathan Trappe, a cluster-balloonist who became the first person to fly the English Channel, has launched a house into the sky just like in the Disney movie Up
Jonathan Trappe, who holds records for crossing the Alps, flying the most cluster balloons, and the longest distance, has spent his entire career building up to the momentous expedition.
He said: “I didn’t wake up one day and think: <<I’m going to fly across the Atlantic>>.
“Every attempt before this was geared towards this flight. I’ve been training for a long time.”
In May 2010, Jonathan Trappe became famous worldwide when flew from England to Belgium dangling from scores of helium balloons.
Now he is ready to take on the Atlantic, a challenge which has called to balloonists for decades, although five others have died in the process, and none have crossed attached to cluster-balloons.
“It’s about living an interesting life – for me as the pilot and those watching,” said Jonathan Trappe.
“So, one day we can look back and say: <<Humankind were able to pull this off. They did it>>.”
Those interested in donating or sponsoring Jonathan Trappe can do so at: http://www.indiegogo.com/upacrosstheatlantic
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