Balloonomania their ballooning stunts, with Blanchard and his companion Dr. John Jeffries being the first to cross the English channel in a balloon on January 7, 1785. The public reaction among intellectuals and academics was generally cooler, with some critics of balloonomania including the likes of Sir Joseph Banks and Samuel Johnson, who wrote in a 1783 letter to Hester Thrale, who had inquired about the nature of hot air balloons, “Happy are you, Madam, that have ease and leisure to want intelligence of air balloons. Their existence is, I believe, indubitable, but I know not that they can possibly be
Rozière balloon Feliu and Green. Four Cameron-R77s made Atlantic crossings, west to east, during September 1992. One was co-piloted by Bertrand Piccard. Australian adventurer Richard Smith and his co-pilot John Wallington made the first balloon voyage across Australia, in another Cameron-R77 Rozière, "Australian Geographic Flyer", on 18 June 1993. Steve Fossett made the first successful Pacific crossing during February 1995. On 27 February 1999, while they were trying to circumnavigate the world by balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after flying in a Rozière combined helium and hot air balloon (the "Cable & Wireless" balloon) for 233