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—— ON THIS DAY ——
AUGUST 17, 1978
Miserey, France
48 years ago
The Double Eagle II, the helium balloon that on August 17, 1978, became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean, ending nearly two centuries of failed attempts.
On the evening of August 17, 1978, a giant silver balloon drifted down into a field of barley near the village of Miserey, about sixty miles west of Paris, and three exhausted American men climbed out to be greeted by cheering crowds. They had just become the first people in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean by balloon. Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman had left Presque Isle, Maine, nearly six days earlier and had ridden the winds across more than three thousand miles of open ocean.
The achievement closed a chapter that had begun almost two centuries earlier with the first balloon flights of the 1780s. Crossing the Atlantic by balloon had long been an obsession of aeronauts, and it had proven deadly. From the mid-nineteenth century onward, seventeen crews had attempted the transatlantic flight and failed, and at least seven balloonists had died in the effort, some lost at sea and never found. The Atlantic had resisted the balloon far longer than it had resisted the airplane.
—— MARQUEE EVENT ——
The long history of ballooning, from the Montgolfier brothers' first flights in the 1780s to the transatlantic dream that took two centuries to fulfill.
Abruzzo and Anderson had tried and failed once before. In 1977 the two had attempted the crossing in the Double Eagle, only to be blown off course and forced to ditch near Iceland after two and a half days, with Abruzzo suffering frostbite. Undeterred, they returned the following year with a third crew member, Larry Newman, and a new balloon, the Double Eagle II, determined to complete what had defeated so many before them.
The flight was not without peril. Midway across, atmospheric conditions forced the balloon to plunge from twenty thousand feet toward a dangerous four thousand, and the crew had to jettison equipment and supplies to stay aloft. They survived on hot dogs and canned sardines, endured cold and exhaustion, and pressed on. When they crossed the Irish coast on the evening of August 16, the crossing was effectively complete, and the following evening they touched down in France.
The Double Eagle II's flight set new records for distance and endurance and captured the imagination of the world. The crew were greeted as heroes and received a congratulatory telegram from President Jimmy Carter. Their success came more than half a century after Charles Lindbergh had flown the Atlantic alone by airplane, and it fulfilled a dream that had cost lives across generations. Three men in a balloon had finally conquered the ocean that had defeated so many before them.
—— WHY THIS MATTERS ——
It fulfilled a dream that had defeated aeronauts for nearly two centuries. From the first balloon flights of the 1780s, crossing the Atlantic by balloon had obsessed and killed those who attempted it. The Double Eagle II succeeded where seventeen crews had failed, closing a long and often fatal chapter in the history of flight.
It was a triumph of persistence. Two of the three crew members had failed the year before, nearly dying in the attempt. Their willingness to try again and succeed made the flight a lasting example of determination in the face of danger and failure.
It captured a moment of pure adventure. In an age of routine air travel, the sight of three men riding a balloon across the ocean rekindled a sense of exploration and daring that recalled the earliest days of human flight.
—— THE TAKEAWAY ——
On August 17, 1978, the Double Eagle II floated down into a French barley field, and three Americans became the first to cross the Atlantic by balloon. Seventeen crews had failed before them and some had died trying. Nearly six days aloft, and two centuries of a deadly dream, came to an end in a field near Paris.
—— QUOTE OF THE DAY ——
“On behalf of the American people, I salute your triumphant adventure.”
— President Jimmy Carter, in a telegram to the Double Eagle II crew, 1978
—— OUR QUIZ OF THE DAY ——
How much do you know about the Double Eagle II, the first transatlantic balloon flight, the failures that preceded it, and the crew who finally crossed the ocean?
