Rozière balloon days or even weeks. The first Rozière was built for an attempt at crossing the English Channel on 15 June 1785. The balloon suddenly deflated (without the envelope catching fire) and crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, killing Rozier, who was riding the balloon. Presently, Rozière designs use non-flammable helium rather than hydrogen. Their primary application is for extremely long duration flights. The first successful Atlantic crossing was made 31 August to 2 September 1986, Newfoundland to the Netherlands, by Brink, Brink and Hageman in the balloon "Dutch Viking". During February 1992, the first east-to-west Atlantic crossing was achieved by
Free Life (balloon) balloon in Europe. The "Free Life" attempt was the first use of a Roziere style balloon for an Atlantic attempt, built by Mark Semich, using a combination of helium and hot air. Below the spherical helium gas cell is a conical sleeve where air can be heated by burners in the same way as a normal hot air balloon. By varying the hot air temperature, altitude can be maintained without having to release helium or to drop ballast. The burners are principally used to compensate for the lack of solar heating at night. After four years of planning and postponements,