Every year in May, the Balloon Club of Augsburg holds a gas balloon meeting with about ten balloons, following a long tradition of gas ballooning in the towns of Gersthofen and Augsburg. In 1931, Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard and his engineer Paul Kipfer launched there to be the first men in the stratosphere – in a 14000 cubic meter hydrogen balloon!
Records like these were not on our minds that weekend – we just came to enjoy the inauguration of the new netless gas balloon of the town of Gersthofen, and two nice gas balloon morning flights. And oh how beautiful they were!
The first magnificent, almost surreal morning flight led us from Gersthofen to the surroundings of Aichach; the second one in almost opposite direction towards Dillingen on Danube.
But even with these two flights, we didn’t have enough. As winds from the east were predicted for Sunday, we soon had developed the idea to fly our balloon home to Stuttgart – and that was just what we did!
The passion of a lifetime: To behold the stunning beauty of our world like no one else, free like a bird, high in the sky, yet one with nature, using the oldest principle of flight known to man: Lighter than air.
No wings, no noise, no pressure… just serenity, just perfect bliss. At one with the elements… at one with yourself.