Per Lindstrand (right) with Richard Branson and the Virgin Pacific Flyer capsule in Miyakonojo, Japan

Per Lindstrand (born August 8, 1948, Sweden) is an aeronautical engineer, pilot and adventurer who has lived in Oswestry, England, since 1978. He is particularly known for his series of record-breaking trans-oceanic hot air balloon flights and, later, attempts to be the first to fly a Rozière balloon around the Earth - all with British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Miyakonojō (都城市; -shi) is a city located in Miyazaki, Japan. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. ... Map sources for Oswestry at grid reference SJ2929 Oswestry (Welsh: Croesoswallt) is a town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ... It has been suggested that Entrepreneurial mindset be merged into this article or section. ... Sir Richard Branson during the announcement of the Virgin Express airline which would compete with Ryanair and EasyJet. ...

Lindstrand not only flies balloons, but many other aircraft as well, and holds an airline transport pilot's licence for single and multi-engined land and sea aeroplanes and helicopters, and a commercial pilot's licence for auto-gyros, airships and gliders. His long standing dream to make a flight around the world in a hot air balloon (as opposed to a Rozière or gas balloon which requires no constant source of heated air) still remains unrealized, but his lighter than air flight achievements, where he has broken distance, duration and altitude records, have made him one of the best known balloonists, and aerostat designers and engineers in the world. Akron in flight, 2 November 1931 An airship is a buoyant (lighter_than_air) aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ... Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ... A gas ballon (also called a Charlier ballon for its inventor) is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air (such as helium or hydrogen. ... The expression lighter than air refers to objects, usually aircraft, that are buoyant in air because they have an average density that is less than that of air (usually because they contain gases that have a density that is lower than that of air). ...

Early Life

Lindstrand's aeronautical career began in the Swedish Air Force where he was as an Engineering Officer. His first balloon flight in the early 1970's was the result of a bet. He built a makeshift balloon and successfully flew it across the runway while in the Swedish Air Force to claim victory. (When he flew more conventional military aircraft, he chose to use call sign, Polar Per.)

Lindstrand later gained a masters degree in aeronautical engineering and worked for Saab Aircraft in Sweden and Lockheed in the USA. He saw his second hot air balloon in 1975 when a neighbour in Sweden purchased it from a British company. When Lindstrand learned that this new balloon was supposed to be state-of-the-art, he decided that he could do better. A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerning aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... Saab is an aircraft and automobile concern based in Sweden, founded 1937 in Linköping. ... The Lockheed SR-71, remarkably advanced for its time and unsurpassed in many areas of performance The Lockheed U-2 first flew in 1955 providing much needed intelligence on Soviet bloc countries Lockheed Corporation was an aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 to form... The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. ...

Company History

The Virgin Atlantic Flyer balloon - then the largest hot air balloon ever built - after splashdown in the Irish Sea

With Swedish aircraft engineer and entrepreneur, Hokan Colting, he formed Colting Balloons which operated in Ireland from 1976. In 1978 the company moved to Oswestry in Shropshire, England, to be closer to major markets in the UK and Europe. When Hokan Colting moved to Canada, Lindstrand continued to run the renamed Colt Balloons (later Thunder & Colt Balloons after acquiring UK-based Thunder Balloons). Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. ... Relief map of the Irish Sea. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Shropshire (abbreviated Salop or Shrops) is a traditional, ceremonial and administrative county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to some dispute as to Europes actual borders. ...

In December 1991 Lindstrand founded Lindstrand Balloons Ltd. Lindstrand Balloons, and later specialized aerospace company, Lindstrand Technologies Ltd. (both based in Oswestry) manufacture and repair aerostats, airships, gas balloons, passenger-carrying tethered aerostats and other fabric engineering products (including architectural structures, innovative fire-safety devices for road tunnels and inflatable flood defence barriers). In 2002, Lindstrand Balloons was asked to design and manufacture the complex parachute for the Mars-lander, Beagle 2. Beagle 2 was launched in June 2003 and landed on the Planet Mars on Christmas Day 2003. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons, which was started by Swedish-born Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, after he left Thunder & Colt Balloons in the mid-1990s. ... A gas ballon (also called a Charlier ballon for its inventor) is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air (such as helium or hydrogen. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... For the Roman god, see Mars (mythology). ... Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agencys 2003 Mars Express mission. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for June, 2003. ...

Lindstrand Balloons, in partnership with Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Germany, was awarded a design contract by the European Space Agency to develop a high altitude long endurance airship for possible use in the telecommunications market. Resulting from this, Lindstrand was awarded the German-based Korber Prize for engineering excellence. DaimlerChrysler AG (Xetra: DCX) , (NYSE: DCX), with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and Auburn Hills, Michigan, is a prominent automobile and truck manufacturer, formed in 1998 by the buyout of the Chrysler Corporation (USA) by Daimler-Benz (Germany). ... The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member states. ...

Record Flights

Launch of the Virgin Global Flyer Balloon, Marrakech, Morocco

From early in his business career, Lindstrand's main interest and ambition lay in pushing the boundaries of lighter-than-air technology and he subsequently captured every absolute world record for hot air balloon flight. He is particularly known for the Atlantic crossing with Sir Richard Branson in July 1987, smashing the distance record from 900 miles to 3075 miles when they flew in the largest hot air balloon ever built. At 60,513 m³ (2,137,000 ft³) volume, it was taller than the Statue of Liberty and could comfortably contain a 747 Jumbo jet without the wings or fuselage touching the balloon envelope. Designed and built by Lindstrand's company, it was the first hot air balloon to fly in the jetstreams (high speed upper winds, often used by long-haul commercial aircraft to save fuel). There were real fears that the balloon envelope could be ripped apart by shear stresses as the giant balloon entered the jetstream. In the event, this did not occur and the balloon reached record ground speeds in excess of 130 mph (209 km/h). The Koutoubia Mosque. ... Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... Sir Richard Branson during the announcement of the Virgin Express airline which would compete with Ryanair and EasyJet. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In an aircraft, the fuselage is the main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ... Jet streams are fast flowing, confined air currents found in the atmosphere at around 12 km above the surface of the Earth, just under the tropopause. ...

In January 1991, in the Virgin Pacific Flyer (a hot air balloon measuring 74,000 m³ (2,600,000 ft³), designed and built by Lindstrand Balloons), Lindstrand and Branson completed the longest flight in lighter-than-air history when they flew 6761 miles from Japan to Northern Canada. Their flight set two new world records for distance and duration and they broke their own ground speed record, recording 245 mph (394 km/h). The Virgin Pacific Flyer still remains the largest hot air balloon ever built. Lighter than air gases are buoyant in air because they have a density that is less than the density of air. ...

In an attempt to be the first to fly a balloon of any type around the world, in December 1998, Lindstrand, partnered by Richard Branson and Steve Fossett, flew for 7 days and covered over 20,000 km in a Rozière balloon, launching from Morocco and landing in the Pacific Ocean near to rescue services in Hawaii. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Steve Fossett Steve Fossett (born April 22, 1944, in Jackson, Tennessee) is a United States aviator and adventurer known for his appetite to set world records. ... Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 43rd 28,337 km² n/a km 2,450 km 41. ...

Recognition

Lindstrand received the Royal Aero Club's Gold Medal from Prince Andrew twice, in 1989 and 1991, and the Royal Aeronautical Club’s Britannica Trophy in 1988. He is a recipient of America's highest flying award, the Harmon Trophy, given to him by Vice President Quayle in the White House. In February 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Insitute of British Architects for his highly innovative work in the field of inflatables and their application to habitable structures. Lindstrand is also in the Guinness Hall of Fame. The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom. ... HRH The Duke of York His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Windsor), styled HRH The Duke of York (born February 19, 1960), is a member of the British Royal Family, the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In 1926 Clifford B. Harmon, a wealthy sportsman and aviator, established the Harmon Trophy, a set of three international trophies to be awarded annually to the worlds outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut (balloon or dirigible). ... James Danforth Quayle (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ...

External links

• Lindstrand Balloons Ltd. (UK company)
• Lindstrand Technologies Ltd. (UK company)
• Lindstrand Balloons US (independently owned US affilliate/licensee)
• Filmmakers for Atlantic, Pacific and Global flights