Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
Brian George Jones (born 27 March 1947 in Bristol, England) is an English balloonist.
Brian Jones, along with Bertrand Piccard, co-piloted the first successful uninterrupted circumnavigation of the world on board the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3. They set off on 1 March 1999 from Chteau d'Oex in Switzerland and landed in Egypt after a 45,755-kilometre (28,431-mile) 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 an OBE in the 1999 Birthday Honours.
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 grew up in Knowle, Bristol. He served for 13 years in the Royal Air Force. He is married to Joanna, a balloonist, and has two children. He co-authored the book The Greatest Adventure ISBN 978-0747264439 with Bertrand Piccard.
Bertrand Piccard FRSGS (born 1 March 1958) is a Swiss explorer, psychiatrist and environmentalist. Along with Brian Jones, he was the first to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe, in a balloon named Breitling Orbiter 3. He was the initiator, chairman, and pilot, with André Borschberg, of Solar Impulse, the first successful round-the-world solar-powered flight. In 2012 Piccard was designated as a Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation.Piccard was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. His grandfather Auguste Piccard was a balloonist and undersea explorer, and his father Jacques Piccard was an undersea explorer.