Home
Politics
For the 21st-century trip, hotel manager Pelard will be joined by two experienced balloonists, Laurent Lajoye and world gas balloon champion Sebastien Rolland.
They are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, as the team need a southeasterly wind, rare in the Lorraine region, to carry them on a journey that should take between 24 and 36 hours.
When Marvingt -- a celebrated athlete, mountaineer and pioneering aviator -- set off from Nancy in the "Shooting Star" on October 26, 1909, she paid little attention to wind direction and had no set destination in mind.
"Landing in England was pure chance," the 2010 team said.
The "Grand Nancy" will fly at a height of up to 1000 metres (3280 feet) at night and nearly 2000 metres in the day, with the sea as the main danger since the trio are equipped with a radio and GPS system, but no lifeboat.
"The facts have changed since the last century: airspace is very busy, we must avoid the greater Paris region and Brussels, and in England the altitude is very limited," Pelard said.
Marie Marvingt's balloon trip was only one in a string of extraordinary feats.
She flew bombers in World War I, worked as a reporter in the inter-war years, and devoted most of her life to promoting the concept of air ambulances, becoming the first ever certified flight nurse.
Marvingt continued to fly for the rest of her life, piloting helicopters into her eighties. She died in 1963 aged 88.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
They are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, as the team need a southeasterly wind, rare in the Lorraine region, to carry them on a journey that should take between 24 and 36 hours.
When Marvingt -- a celebrated athlete, mountaineer and pioneering aviator -- set off from Nancy in the "Shooting Star" on October 26, 1909, she paid little attention to wind direction and had no set destination in mind.
"Landing in England was pure chance," the 2010 team said.
The "Grand Nancy" will fly at a height of up to 1000 metres (3280 feet) at night and nearly 2000 metres in the day, with the sea as the main danger since the trio are equipped with a radio and GPS system, but no lifeboat.
"The facts have changed since the last century: airspace is very busy, we must avoid the greater Paris region and Brussels, and in England the altitude is very limited," Pelard said.
Marie Marvingt's balloon trip was only one in a string of extraordinary feats.
She flew bombers in World War I, worked as a reporter in the inter-war years, and devoted most of her life to promoting the concept of air ambulances, becoming the first ever certified flight nurse.
Marvingt continued to fly for the rest of her life, piloting helicopters into her eighties. She died in 1963 aged 88.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
