Wed, Sep 13, 2017
Vincent Leys And Christophe Houver Flew More Than 1,800Km (991 Nautical Miles) To Win The Gordon Bennett Cup 2017
French balloon pilots Vincent Leys and Christophe Houver won the 61st Gordon Bennett Cup over the weekend of September 8-10. The Gordon Bennett Cup is the oldest and most prestigious gas-balloon race in the world.
The pair travelled 1,836.06 km (991 nm) having launched on Friday from Gruyères near Fribourg, Switzerland. Twenty-one gas balloons took off on Friday evening to compete in the race, which sees gas-balloon pilots fly through the night over several days. Whoever goes furthest, wins.
Windy conditions this year saw the balloonists pushed northeast overnight. The direction of travel meant on Saturday many crews had to land in Poland in order to avoid violating Russian airspace around Kalingrad.
By Sunday morning just five teams remained in the competition. Only Leys and Houver managed to squeeze through the narrow airspace corridor between Kaliningrad and Belarus, giving then the win.
Behind them, Switzerland’s Kurt Frieden and Pascal Witprächtiger (SUI-1) and Spain’s Anulfo Gonzales Redondo and Angel Aguirre Rial (ESP-1) hung on to land a few kilometres short of the Lithuanian border.
The win is the second for the pair flying together as a team – they also won in 2013, when they flew 1,402.42km after launching from France. Vincent Leys however has been in the winning team eight times.
The win means that the 2019 Gordon Bennett Cup will launch from a location in France.
Established in 1906, the Gordon Bennett Cup was re-started for the modern era in 1983. Since then it has attracted many of the world’s top balloon pilots, providing a challenge unrivalled anywhere else in the ballooning world.
(Image provided with Gordon Bennett Cup news release)
More News
Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]
"It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for manned aircraft to see a drone while conducting crop-enhancing and other aerial applications at low altitudes and high speeds. We>[...]
Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]
“The T-54A benefits from an active Beechcraft King Air assembly line in Wichita, Kansas, where all required METS avionics and interior modifications are installed on the line>[...]
Aero Linx: Aerostar Owners Association The Association offers the Aerostar Owner a unique opportunity to tap an invaluable source of information concerning the care and feeding of >[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.28.24): Airport Marking Aids
See All