What media mogul billionaire made the first transatlantic hot air balloon crossing in 1987?

Richard Branson made the first transatlantic hot-air balloon crossing in 1987, flying with Swedish balloonist Per Lindstrand. Their balloon, the Virgin Atlantic Flyer, crossed the Atlantic from Maine to Northern Ireland in July 1987.

The flight began at Sugarloaf in Maine on July 2 and covered roughly 4,947 kilometers in about 31 hours and 41 minutes. The balloon reached extraordinary speeds with help from the jet stream, setting distance and speed records for hot-air ballooning along the way.

The achievement was dangerous right to the end. After reaching Northern Ireland, the balloon continued toward Scotland and the crew had to ditch in the Irish Sea. Branson and Lindstrand were rescued, but the flight was still recognized as the first successful transatlantic crossing by a hot-air balloon.

This record is sometimes confused with earlier Atlantic crossings by gas-filled balloons. The Double Eagle II crossed the Atlantic in 1978 using helium. Branson’s 1987 achievement was different because the Virgin Atlantic Flyer used heated air rather than helium. Branson and Lindstrand later crossed the Pacific in a hot-air balloon in 1991.