A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOT AIR BALLOONING

Melbourne is blessed to be one of the first cities in the world to enjoy commercial passenger carrying hot air balloon flights. Ballooning over Melbourne has been conducted for many years and is now well into its third decade, having been started by Chris Dewhirst, the founder of the first operation over Melbourne.

Picture This Ballooning became the first company in Australia to specialise in special shape hot air balloons in 1996.

But it all began a long time before that..............

On the 19th September 1783 Pilatre De Rozier, a scientist, launched the first hot air balloon called 'Aerostat Reveillon'. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster. The balloon flew for 15 minutes.

Then on 21 November 1783, the first manned balloon flight was made in a balloon made by 2 French brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. The balloon was launched from the centre of Paris and flew for 20 minutes. Hot air ballooning was up and away!

Years later and the mystique of ballooning has continued to grip people around the world - so much so that in 1987 Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand were the first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon.

They flew 2,900 miles in a time of 33 hours. The envelope they used was the largest ever flown, 2.3 million cubic feet.

They teamed up again in 1991 and became the first to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon. They travelled 6,700 miles in 47 hours, from Japan to Canada breaking the world distance record, travelling at speeds of up to 245 mph.

In 1999 the first around the world flight was completed by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones. Leaving from Switzerland and landing in Africa, they smashed all previous distance records, flying for 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes.

And now you too can share in the magic - book you and your friends a place aboard a Picture This flight over Melbourne. It is simply Melbourne's Greatest Luxury Adventure and will become a part of your own history!