Brian George Jones (born 27 March 1947 in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is an English

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 ...

. Brian Jones, along with Bertrand Piccard, co-piloted the first successful uninterrupted

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Mage ...

of the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

on board a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

, the ''Breitling Orbiter 3''. They set off on 1 March 1999 from Château d'Oex in Switzerland and landed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

after a flight lasting 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes. For this achievement, he received awards including the

Harmon Trophy The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut (balloon or dirigible). A fourth trophy, the "National Trophy," was awarded from 1926 through 1938 to th ...

, the Hubbard Medal, the FAI Gold Air Medal, the Charles Green Salver, the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to ballooning. Still active in ballooning records, In November 2010 Jones piloted the ''Esprit Breitling Orbiter'' as a launch platform for

Yves Rossy Yves Rossy (born 27 August 1959) is a Swiss military-trained pilot and an aviation enthusiast. He is known as the inventor of a series of experimental individual jet packs, the latest using carbon-fiber wings for flight. Often referred to as " ...

. Rossy made the first successful attempt to perform loops using a jet-powered flying-wing backpack. Jones grew up in

Knowle, Bristol Knowle is a district and council ward in the south east of the city of Bristol in England, United Kingdom. It is bordered by Filwood Park to the west, Brislington to the east, Whitchurch and Hengrove to the south and Totterdown to the north. ...

. He served for 13 years in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. He is married to Joanna, a balloonist, and has two children. He co-authored the book ''The Greatest Adventure'' with Bertrand Piccard.

References

External links

Milestones of Flight: ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' Balloon Gondola
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 29 May 2010 1947 births Living people People from Bristol British balloonists Harmon Trophy winners Britannia Trophy winners Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Olympic Order Aerobatic record holders Balloon flight record holders British aviation record holders {{Aviation-bio-stub