A Mass Ascent Of Hundreds Of Hot Air Balloons In France Sets A New World Record At Lorraine Mondial Air Balloons (LAMB) 2015

LAMB 2015 started on July 24th and continues to August 2nd, at the Chambley Planet'Air Airfield, in the heart of the Regional Park of Lorraine (Meurthe-et-Moselle / France). For ten days, the biggest balloons gathering in the world spreads its wings by illuminating the sky (on morning and on evening) with hundreds of colorful balloons.

For the 14th edition, LMAB (created in 1989) chose the slogan "Nowhere else". More than a promise, it is a reality! For many years, LMAB has organized mass ascents of hundreds of balloons. The year 2014 established the event as the number one balloon gathering in the world, with a Guinness World Record of a mass flight with 408 balloons taking off in an hour.

Now, a new record has been set as 433 hot air balloons formed along 3 lines stringing more than 3.5 miles on Chambley Planet'Air airfield. The biggest gathering of hot air balloons in the world, LMAB 2015, broke its own record. Last Sunday morning the mass ascent of the hot air balloons took place in calm wind and brilliant sunshine in front of thousands of spectators who flocked to the site despite the early morning hour.

This event also marks an anniversary year since the famous “Lorrain”, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier (1754-1785) disappeared 230 years ago. He was the first man to conquer the air on November 21th, 1783.

It so happens that at this time in history our own American representative to France, Benjamin Franklin, was there to see the birth of balloon flying. A historical account says that Franklin was asked by another scientist watching a flight with great skepticism, “What good is it?” Franklin reportedly replied, “What good is a new-born babe?”

(Image by A.Marchi provided by Pilâtre-de-Rozier-Organisation-Envol)

FMI: http://www.hotairballoon.com/Lorraine-Mondial-Air-Ballons/