Benjamin L. "Ben" Abruzzo (June 9, 1930 – February 11, 1985) was an American

balloonist In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that ...

and businessman who helped make Albuquerque, New Mexico, into an international ballooning center. He was part of the balloon crews that made the first Atlantic Ocean crossing by balloon in the

Double Eagle II ''Double Eagle II'', piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. It ...

and the first Pacific Ocean crossing by balloon in the Double Eagle V. DoubleEagleIIPresqueIsleMaine

Life

Abruzzo was born in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

with a BS in business administration in 1952 and commissioned as a lieutenant in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. Abruzzo was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

; adopting New Mexico as his home state after leaving military service in 1954. After working at Sandia Corporation, he became chairman and president of Alvarado Realty Company and started working with the local ski resort. Abruzzo became chairman and president of Sandia Peak Ski Company, Sandia Peak Tram Company, and Sandia Peak Utility Company. He also developed the Sandia Heights subdivision of homes around the base of the Sandia Tram.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Abruzzo took an interest in hot air ballooning in the early 1970s. In 1972, Abruzzo and other local balloon pilots held the first Albuquerque balloon fiesta with just thirteen balloons launching from a shopping mall parking lot. The

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly hot air balloon festival that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during early October. The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event occurring in the first full week of October, and has o ...

is now the largest ballooning event of its kind in the world, with over 600 balloons participating each October.

Double Eagle

In 1977 Abruzzo and fellow balloonist Maxie Anderson decided to attempt a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a helium filled gas balloon named the ''

Double Eagle A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. (Its gold content of 0.9675 troy oz (30.0926 grams) was worth $20 at the 1849 official price of $20.67/oz.) The coins are 34 mm x 2 mm and are made from ...

''. The balloon was named in honor of Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 was the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a small single engined aircraft alone. The flight of the ''

'' occurred fifty years after Lindbergh's feat, and was the eleventh recorded attempt to make the crossing, which had been an open challenge in ballooning for more than a century. The balloon launched from Marshfield, Massachusetts on September 9. After being blown off course by stormy weather, the team was forced to ditch three miles off the coast of Iceland on September 12, hours after taking off. Abruzzo suffered exposure and

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...

during the flight and was forced to abandon the attempt.

Double Eagle II

The Abruzzo and Anderson team, this time with Larry Newman, made a second attempt in the ''

'' in 1978. The team took off from

Presque Isle, Maine Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,797 at the 2020 Census. The city is home to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Northern Maine Community College, Hus ...

on August 11 and made a successful landing in Miserey, France six days later. ABC Sports aired a short form documentary special about the flight hosted by Bob Beatty entitled "The Spirit of '78: The Flight of DOUBLE EAGLE II". For their efforts, the team was awarded the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

in 1979. Later that year, Abruzzo and Anderson piloted together to win the first since

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

International Gordon Bennett Race in the balloon “Double Eagle III”. The Bennett race was suspended in 1939 due to hostilities, not resuming until 1979, with official

Gordon Bennett Cup (ballooning) The Gordon Bennett Cup (or ) is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the ''Los Angeles Times''. Referred to as the " Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started f ...

restart in 1983.

Double Eagle V

Abruzzo was also on the '' Double Eagle V'' team. The '' Double Eagle V'' was the first team to cross the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in a gas balloon in November 1981. This flight also set a record for longest trip by a team in a balloon.

Death and legacy

Ben Abruzzo died on 11 February 1985 when the

Cessna 421 The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411. Development The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 196 ...

he was piloting crashed near Albuquerque. Abruzzo's wife and four others also died in the crash. Abruzzo's son, Richard Abruzzo, was also a noted balloonist. He too died in an aviation accident. Creating a foundation, the Abruzzo and Anderson families partnered with the City of Albuquerque and constructed the

Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum The Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum is a museum dedicated to the worldwide history, science, and art of all types of ballooning and lighter-than-air flight. It is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, and is situate ...

next to the launch field of the

. The World's most photographed event, Fiesta is held the second week of every October. Abruzzo had partnered with Robert Nordhaus, a retired lawyer and father of Nobel Prize-winning economist

William Nordhaus William Dawbney Nordhaus (born May 31, 1941) is an American economist, a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, best known for his work in economic modeling and climate change, and one of the 2 recipients of the 2018 Nobel Memoria ...

, to purchase the La Madera Ski Area, now known as

Sandia Peak Ski Area Sandia Peak Ski Area, originally La Madera Ski Area, is a ski resort located in the Sandia Mountains in northeast Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, immediately northeast of the city of Albuquerque. It is part of a Special Use Permit ...

, from the Albuquerque Ski Club in 1958. Together, they oversaw many improvements to the resort. Two entities at the resort are named for his famous balloon: a

ski run A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

, ''Double Eagle II''; and the

ski lodge A ski lodge or day lodge is a building located in a ski area that provides amenities such as food, beverages, seating area, restrooms, and locker rooms for skiers and snowboarders. Larger resorts have a day lodge at each base area and also at mid- ...

, Double Eagle II Day Lodge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abruzzo, Ben 1930 births 1985 deaths Accidental deaths in New Mexico Aviators from Illinois Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States American balloonists Congressional Gold Medal recipients Gies College of Business alumni People from Rockford, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Businesspeople from Albuquerque, New Mexico United States Air Force officers Balloon flight record holders American aviation record holders Transatlantic flight 20th-century American businesspeople Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1985