Brian George Jones (born 27 March 1947) is an English balloonist. Brian Jones, along with Bertrand Piccard, co-piloted the first successful uninterrupted circumnavigation of the

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

on board a balloon, the ''Breitling Orbiter 3''. They set off on 1 March 1999 from Château d'Oex in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and landed in

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after a flight lasting 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes. For this achievement, he received awards including the Harmon Trophy, the Hubbard Medal, the FAI Gold Air Medal, the Charles Green Salver, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, and was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, and grew up in Knowle, Bristol. He served for 13 years in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. He is married to Joanna, a balloonist, and has two children.

Notable work

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 History of ballooning 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