Per Lindstrand
Encyclopedia
Per Lindstrand is a Swedish
aeronautical engineer, pilot
, adventurer and entrepreneur
. He is particularly known for his series of record-breaking trans-oceanic hot air balloon
flights and, later, attempts to be the first to fly a Rozière balloon around the Earth - all with British
entrepreneur
, Sir Richard Branson
. He is also the founder of eponymous Lindstrand Balloons
hot air balloon manufacturer based in Oswestry
, England.
Lindstrand not only flies balloons, but many other aircraft as well, and holds an airline transport pilot's licence for single and multi-engined land and sea aeroplanes and helicopters, and a commercial pilot's licence for auto-gyros, airships and gliders
. His long standing dream to make a flight around the world in a hot air balloon (as opposed to a Rozière or gas balloon
which requires no constant source of heated air) still remains unrealized. His distance, duration and altitude records have made him one of the best known balloonists and aerostat
designers and engineers in the world.
Lindstrand later gained a masters degree in aeronautical engineering and worked for Saab
Aircraft in Sweden
and Lockheed
in the United States
. He saw his second hot air balloon in 1975 when a neighbour in Sweden purchased it from a British company. When Lindstrand learned that this new balloon was supposed to be state-of-the-art, he decided that he could do better.
from 1976. In 1978 the company moved to Oswestry
, England
, to be closer to major markets in the UK and Europe
. When Håkan Colting moved to Canada
, Lindstrand continued to run the renamed Colt Balloons (later Thunder & Colt Balloons after acquiring UK-based Thunder Balloons).
In December 1991 Lindstrand founded Lindstrand Balloons
Ltd. Lindstrand Balloons, and later created a specialized aerospace company, Lindstrand Technologies
Ltd. (both based in Oswestry) manufacture and repair aerostats
, airship
s, gas balloon
s, passenger-carrying tethered aerostats and other fabric engineering products (including architectural structures, innovative fire-safety devices for road tunnels and inflatable flood defence barriers). In 2002, Lindstrand Balloons was asked to manufacture the complex parachute for the Mars
-lander, Beagle 2
. Beagle 2 was launched in June 2003 but unfortunately failed to land successfully on the Planet Mars on Christmas Day 2003.
Lindstrand Balloons, in partnership with Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Germany
, was awarded a design contract by the European Space Agency
to develop a high altitude long endurance airship for possible use in the telecommunications market. Resulting from this, Lindstrand was awarded the German-based Korber Prize for engineering excellence.
From early in his business career, Lindstrand's main interest and ambition lay in pushing the boundaries of lighter-than-air technology and he subsequently captured every absolute world record for hot air balloon
flight.
In January 1991, in the Virgin Pacific Flyer (a hot air balloon measuring 74,000 m³ (2,600,300 ft³), designed and built by Thunder & Colt), Lindstrand and Branson completed the longest flight in lighter-than-air history when they flew 6761 miles from Japan
to Northern Canada
. Their flight set two new world records for distance and duration and they broke their own ground speed record, recording 245 mph (395 km/h). The Virgin Pacific Flyer still remains the largest hot air balloon ever built.
In an attempt to be the first to fly a balloon of any type around the world, in December 1998, Lindstrand, partnered by Richard Branson and Steve Fossett
, flew for 7 days and covered over 20,000 km in a Rozière balloon, launching from Morocco
and landing in the Pacific Ocean
near to rescue services in Hawaii
.
Rather less successful was his attempt in 1983 to achieve the world altitude record for hot-air balloons. Sponsored by the English and Welsh Milk Industry, a vast balloon emblazoned with "Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle" was prepared for launch to be broadcast on live television early one Saturday morning. Adverse weather conditions led to the mission being aborted: instead viewers were treated to a horrifying spectacle when the balloon filled with air whilst being towed along the ground. Lindstrand, holding one of the ropes, was lifted 30 feet into the air and had to make a vital decision: did he let go and fall from that dangerous height or hold on and risk having to drop from an even greater height? He let go and viewers saw his alarming fall and heard the sickening thud as he hit the ground. Mercifully, his only injury was a dislocated shoulder.
's Gold Medal from Prince Andrew
twice, in 1989 and 1991, and the Royal Aeronautical Club’s Britannica Trophy in 1988. He is a recipient of America's highest flying award, the Harmon Trophy
, given to him by Vice President Quayle
in the White House
. In February 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects for his highly innovative work in the field of inflatables and their application to habitable structures. Lindstrand is also in the Guinness Hall of Fame
.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
aeronautical engineer, pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, adventurer and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He is particularly known for his series of record-breaking trans-oceanic hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
flights and, later, attempts to be the first to fly a Rozière balloon around the Earth - all with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
. He is also the founder of eponymous Lindstrand Balloons
Lindstrand Balloons
Lindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons and other aerostats. The company was started by Swedish-born pilot and aeronautical designer Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, as Colt Balloons in 1978...
hot air balloon manufacturer based in Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
, England.
Lindstrand not only flies balloons, but many other aircraft as well, and holds an airline transport pilot's licence for single and multi-engined land and sea aeroplanes and helicopters, and a commercial pilot's licence for auto-gyros, airships and gliders
Glider (sailplane)
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...
. His long standing dream to make a flight around the world in a hot air balloon (as opposed to a Rozière or gas balloon
Gas balloon
A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small rubber party balloons...
which requires no constant source of heated air) still remains unrealized. His distance, duration and altitude records have made him one of the best known balloonists and aerostat
Aerostat
An aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
designers and engineers in the world.
Early life
Lindstrand's aeronautical career began in the Swedish Air Force where he was an Engineering Officer. His first balloon flight in the early 1970s was the result of a bet. He built a makeshift balloon and successfully flew it across the runway while in the Swedish Air Force to claim victory. (When he flew more conventional military aircraft, he chose to use call sign, Polar Per.)Lindstrand later gained a masters degree in aeronautical engineering and worked for Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
Aircraft in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He saw his second hot air balloon in 1975 when a neighbour in Sweden purchased it from a British company. When Lindstrand learned that this new balloon was supposed to be state-of-the-art, he decided that he could do better.
Company history
With Swedish aircraft engineer and entrepreneur, Håkan Colting, he formed Colting Balloons which operated in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
from 1976. In 1978 the company moved to Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to be closer to major markets in the UK and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. When Håkan Colting moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Lindstrand continued to run the renamed Colt Balloons (later Thunder & Colt Balloons after acquiring UK-based Thunder Balloons).
In December 1991 Lindstrand founded Lindstrand Balloons
Lindstrand Balloons
Lindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons and other aerostats. The company was started by Swedish-born pilot and aeronautical designer Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, as Colt Balloons in 1978...
Ltd. Lindstrand Balloons, and later created a specialized aerospace company, Lindstrand Technologies
Lindstrand Technologies
Lindstrand Technologies was founded by record-breaking balloonist, Per Lindstrand . The factory has been based on the same site in England for nearly 30 years producing lighter-than-air vehicles and inflatable structures....
Ltd. (both based in Oswestry) manufacture and repair aerostats
Moored balloon
A moored balloon is an inflated fabric structure, often shaped like an airship and usually filled with helium, that is restrained by a cable attached to the ground or a vehicle. Moored balloons differ from airships and free balloons in that it is not free-flying.Moored balloons are sometimes...
, airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s, gas balloon
Gas balloon
A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small rubber party balloons...
s, passenger-carrying tethered aerostats and other fabric engineering products (including architectural structures, innovative fire-safety devices for road tunnels and inflatable flood defence barriers). In 2002, Lindstrand Balloons was asked to manufacture the complex parachute for the Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
-lander, Beagle 2
Beagle 2
Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...
. Beagle 2 was launched in June 2003 but unfortunately failed to land successfully on the Planet Mars on Christmas Day 2003.
Lindstrand Balloons, in partnership with Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, was awarded a design contract by the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
to develop a high altitude long endurance airship for possible use in the telecommunications market. Resulting from this, Lindstrand was awarded the German-based Korber Prize for engineering excellence.
Record flights
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
flight.
In January 1991, in the Virgin Pacific Flyer (a hot air balloon measuring 74,000 m³ (2,600,300 ft³), designed and built by Thunder & Colt), Lindstrand and Branson completed the longest flight in lighter-than-air history when they flew 6761 miles from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to Northern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Their flight set two new world records for distance and duration and they broke their own ground speed record, recording 245 mph (395 km/h). The Virgin Pacific Flyer still remains the largest hot air balloon ever built.
In an attempt to be the first to fly a balloon of any type around the world, in December 1998, Lindstrand, partnered by Richard Branson and Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
, flew for 7 days and covered over 20,000 km in a Rozière balloon, launching from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and landing in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
near to rescue services in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Rather less successful was his attempt in 1983 to achieve the world altitude record for hot-air balloons. Sponsored by the English and Welsh Milk Industry, a vast balloon emblazoned with "Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle" was prepared for launch to be broadcast on live television early one Saturday morning. Adverse weather conditions led to the mission being aborted: instead viewers were treated to a horrifying spectacle when the balloon filled with air whilst being towed along the ground. Lindstrand, holding one of the ropes, was lifted 30 feet into the air and had to make a vital decision: did he let go and fall from that dangerous height or hold on and risk having to drop from an even greater height? He let go and viewers saw his alarming fall and heard the sickening thud as he hit the ground. Mercifully, his only injury was a dislocated shoulder.
Recognition
Lindstrand received the Royal Aero ClubRoyal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
's Gold Medal from Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
twice, in 1989 and 1991, and the Royal Aeronautical Club’s Britannica Trophy in 1988. He is a recipient of America's highest flying award, the Harmon Trophy
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...
, given to him by Vice President Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. In February 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects for his highly innovative work in the field of inflatables and their application to habitable structures. Lindstrand is also in the Guinness Hall of Fame
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
.