PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — What started as a childhood dream for a Pennsylvania man became a historic balloon launch in Presque Isle on Wednesday night.
At about 10 p.m., a multinational team of pilots lifted off in the Torabhaig International Explorer, aiming to fly the first open-basket hydrogen balloon across the Atlantic.
It’s the second attempt for balloon builder Bert Padelt of Bally, Pennsylvania, who is joined by fellow balloonists David Cuneo of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Alicia Hempleman-Adams of Britain. The first attempt was last June, but weather challenges caused an early landing in Canada. The pilots and crew have been in Presque Isle since mid-May awaiting favorable conditions for takeoff, and Wednesday night proved ideal.
“This was well planned out,” Padelt said as the crew prepared for launch. “The weather’s looking good and we’re excited.”
Aroostook County might seem an unlikely place for a quest of international proportions, but this isn’t the first time Presque Isle has made ballooning history. The Double Eagle II launched the first successful trans-Atlantic hot-air balloon flight from the city in 1978. Padelt and the Torabhaig crew chose the same spot not only for its ideal northeast position, but in honor of that historic flight.
Padelt first came to Presque Isle in 2023, though weather prevented a launch then. At the time, he said he’d been involved in ballooning for as long as he could remember, and as a child loved the idea of flying in something borne by the wind, “like blowing a dandelion and watching the seeds drift on the air.”
An accomplished pilot and owner of Best Aviation, Padelt has handcrafted special balloons and baskets for numerous pilots, including adventurer Steve Fossett. He joined renowned pilot Sir David Hempleman-Adams of England and Swiss scientist and explorer Frederik Paulsen two years ago to begin the Torabhaig adventure.
The name comes from the trip’s sponsor, the Torabhaig Distillery on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, which Hempleman-Adams’ daughter owns. A Gaelic name, it’s pronounced “TOR-a-vague.”
Along with the record attempt, the trip has a scientific purpose. The crew will collect air samples to help search for new microbes that could benefit medicines, biofuel development and agriculture.
Paulsen and David Hempleman-Adams could not make the trip this time, so Cuneo and Alicia Hempleman-Adams are flying in their places.
Cuneo and his wife, pilot Barbara Fricke, have flown throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. Cuneo has flown in 20 America’s Challenge gas balloon competitions, according to the Torabhaig Atlantic Explorer website.
Alicia Hempleman-Adams holds the record as the youngest person to have reached the North Pole — she was 8 when she visited her father there — and has set world and British altitude records for female balloonists.
Conditions dictate the precise flight path and low long the balloon stays aloft, Hempleman-Adams said before the launch.
“It depends on the track that we take, but probably in four or five days,” she said. “It could be faster. It completely depends on the weather and completely depends on the track that we’ll go.”
The flight was headquartered in a field owned by Paul Cyr, who has offered his property for the crew’s several trips since 2023. As twilight and then darkness fell, family, friends and crew milled around the balloon, which was laden with sandbags, guylines and gear. A small crowd of supporters and well-wishers watched and waited.
The crew examined the setup, tested cables and communication links, hydrogen levels and more. A large hydrogen tanker truck was on site.
Unlike hot-air balloons, which are filled with air heated by a propane burner, hydrogen balloons are filled with gas and sealed. Flight is controlled by ballast — that’s where the sandbags come in.
The Explorer has 120 30-pound sandbags attached to it, said Joanie Padelt, Bert’s wife. The pilots can drop sand by the bag or by scoop to raise the balloon as needed. If they need to come down, they release some gas with the valve system.
Joanie Padelt is calm and happy about the flight, she said as she held Piper, the balloon team’s small four-legged canine mascot.
“I’m not nervous or anything, because Bert isn’t going to do anything that would jeopardize him or anyone else,” she said. “And his flight crew this year are much more experienced, so the whole flying load isn’t going to be on him, which is nice.”
As flight time neared, Presque Isle Historical Society members Kim Smith and Craig Green brought a piece of inspiration for the crew to see: a sandbag that had flown on the Double Eagle II.
After final checks, the three pilots boarded the basket. Padelt called for ground crew to place hands on the rim as tethers were cut, to hold the basket down until the 10 p.m. launch time.
Just before takeoff, he expressed gratitude for everyone who had brought them this far and for the hospitality of the people of Presque Isle.
“Thank you all for coming tonight,” he said. “It means the world to me.”
The crew guided the basket to the launch spot, and on Padelt’s final call, the balloon floated into the night sky amid applause and cheers.
Follow the journey at the Team Torabhaig website or on social media at Torabhaig Atlantic Explorer Flight Control.
