Gordon Bennett Cup (ballooning)
The Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is the world's oldest and most respected gas balloon race first run on September 30, 1906 in Paris, France. The event was sponsored by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the millionaire sportsman and owner of the New York Herald newspaper.
Inaugurated at a time when powered air flight was in its infancy, Bennett wanted to encourage the technical development in this field and in 1909 created a special competition open to powered flying machines.
The winner of the first ballooning event was American, Frank Purdy Lahm who, along with his balloon co-pilot Henry Hersey flew just over 400 miles to the northeast coast of England. In 1907, St. Louis, Missouri was host to the first ever Gordon Bennett Cup race to be held in the United States. In 1908, the Swiss winners set a world duration record of 73 hours aloft, a standard that would not be broken until 1995. In 1910, the winning balloon flew 1,887 kilometres from St. Louis, to northern Quebec in Canada. It took the two pilots, Alan Ramsay Hawley and Augustus Post, four days to walk back to civilization.
After being interrupted by World War I, the race was held every year until the outbreak of the Second World War. It was not revived until 1983 when the International Aeronautical Federation reinstated the popular race with the winning country usually hosting the following year's competition.
On September 12, 1995, three gas balloons participating in the race entered Belarusian air space. Despite the fact that race organizers informed the Belarusian Government about the race in May and that flight plans had been filed, the Belarusian air force shot down one balloon, killing two American citizens. Among the other two balloons, one was forced to land while the third balloon landed safely (because of deteriorating weather) over two hours after the downing. The crews of the two balloons were fined for entering Belarus without a visa and released. Belarus to date has not apologized or offered compensation for these killings (see [1] [2]).
Winners
| Date | Starting Point | Crew | Country | Balloon Name | Time | Distance [km] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906-09-30 | Paris (France) | Frank Purdy Lahm, Henry Hersey |  United States
|
United States | 22:15 | 641,10 |
| 1907-10-21 | Saint Louis (United States) | Oskar Erbslöh, Henry Helm Clayton |  Germany
|
Pommern | 40:00 | 1403,55 |
| 1908-10-11 | Berlin (Germany) | Theodor Schaeck, Emil Messner |  Switzerland
|
Helvetia | 73:01 | 1190,00 |
| 1909-10-03 | Zürich (Switzerland) | Edgar W. Mix, Andre Roussel | United States
|
America II | 35:07 | 1121,11 |
| 1910-10-17 | Saint Louis (United States) | Alan Ramsay Hawley, Augustus Post | United States
|
America II | 44:25 | 1887,60 |
| 1911-10-05 | Kansas City (United States) | Hans Gericke, Otto Duncker | Germany
|
Berlin II | 12:28 | 757,84 |
| 1912-10-27 | Stuttgart (Germany) | Maurice Bienaimé, René Rumpelmayer |  France
|
La Picardie | 45:42 | 2191,00 |
| 1913-10-12 | Paris (France) | Ralph Hazlett Upson, Ralph Albion Drury Preston | United States
|
Goodyear | 43:30 | 618,00 |
| 1920-10-23 | Birmingham (United States) | Ernest Demuyter, Mathieu Labrousse |  Belgium
|
Belgica | 40:15 | 1769,00 |
| 1921-09-18 | Brussels (Belgium) | Paul Armbruster, Louis Ansermier | Switzerland
|
Zürich | 27:24 | 766,00 |
| 1922-08-06 | Geneva (Switzerland) | Ernest Demuyter, Alexander Veenstra | Belgium
|
Belgica | 25:49 | 1372,10 |
| 1923-09-23 | Brussels (Belgium) | Ernest Demuyter, Leon Coeckelbergh | Belgium
|
Belgica | 21:00 | 1155,00 |
| 1924-06-15 | Brussels (Belgium) | Ernest Demuyter, Leon Coeckelbergh | Belgium
|
Belgica | 43:16 | 714,00 |
| 1925-06-07 | Brussels (Belgium) | Alexander Veenstra, Philippe Quersin | Belgium
|
Prince Leopold | 47:30 | 1345,00 |
| 1926-05-30 | Antwerp (Belgium) | Ward Tunte van Orman, Walter W. Morton | United States
|
Goodyear III | 16:37 | 864,00 |
| 1927-09-10 | Detroit (United States) | Edward J. Hill, Arthur G. Schlosser | United States
|
Detroit | 48:00 | 1198,00 |
| 1928-06-30 | Detroit (United States) | William Elsworth Kepner, William Olmstead Eareckson | United States
|
US Army | 48:00 | 740,80 |
| 1929-09-28 | Saint Louis (United States) | Ward Tunte van Orman, Alan L. McCracken | United States
|
Goodyear VIII | 24:00 | 548,94 |
| 1930-09-01 | Cleveland (United States) | Ward Tunte van Orman, Alan L. McCracken | United States
|
Goodyear VIII | 27:56 | 872,00 |
| 1932-09-25 | Basel (Switzerland) | Thomas G.W. Settle, Wilfred Bushnell | United States
|
US Army | 41:20 | 1550,00 |
| 1933-09-02 | Chicago (United States) | Franciszek Hynek, Zbigniew Burzyński |  Poland
|
SP-ADS Kościuszko | 38:32 | 1361,00 |
| 1934-09-23 | Warsaw (Poland) | Franciszek Hynek, Władysław Pomaski | Poland
|
SP-ADS Kościuszko | 44:48 | 1333,00 |
| 1935-09-16 | Warsaw (Poland) | Zbigniew Burzyński, Władysław Wysocki | Poland
|
SP-AMY Polonia II | 57:54 | 1650,47 |
| 1936-08-30 | Warsaw (Poland) | Ernest Demuyter, Pierre Hoffmans | Belgium
|
OO-BFM Belgica | 46:24 | 1715,80 |
| 1937-06-20 | Brussels (Belgium) | Ernest Demuyter, Pierre Hoffmans | Belgium
|
OO-BFM Belgica | 46:15 | 1396,00 |
| 1938-09-11 | Liège (Belgium) | Antoni Janusz, Franciszek Janik | Poland
|
SP-BCU LOPP | 37:47 | 1692,00 |
| 1939-09-03 | Lwów (Poland) | CANCELED | ||||
| 1983-07-01 | Paris (France) | Stefan Makné, Ireneusz Cieślak | Poland
|
SP-BZO Polonez | 36:00 | 690,00 |
| 1984-10-13 | Zürich (Switzerland) | Karl Spenger, Martin Messner | Switzerland
|
HB-BFC Jura | 43:08 | 793,00 |
| 1985-09-28 | Geneva (Switzerland) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz |  Austria
|
HB-BBL Volksbank | 21:09 | 342,00 |
| 1986-10-18 | Salzburg (Austria) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz | Austria
|
HB-BBL Volksbank | 19:11 | 272,43 |
| 1987-10-03 | Seefeld (Austria) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz | Austria
|
HB-BBL Volksbank | 32:16 | 852,00 |
| 1988-10-23 | Bregenz (Austria) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz | Austria
|
OE-PZS Polarstern | 41:09 | 1110,90 |
| 1989-09-16 | Lech (Austria) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz | Austria
|
OE-PZS Polarstern | 37:33 | 911,20 |
| 1990-09-02 | Lech (Austria) | Josef Starkbaum, Gert Scholz | Austria
|
OE-PZS Polarstern | 33:20 | 692,50 |
| 1991-09-21 | Lech (Austria) | Volker Kuinke, Jürgen Schubert | Germany
|
D-EUREGIO | 44:18 | 1039,40 |
| 1992-09-19 | Stuttgart (Germany) | David Levin, James Herschend | United States
|
D-ASPEN | 45:36 | 964,19 |
| 1993-10-04 | Albuquerque (United States) | Josef Starkbaum, Rainer Röhsler | Austria
|
OE-PZS Polarstern | 59:29 | 1832,00 |
| 1994-09-18 | Lech (Austria) | Karl Spenger, Christian Stoll | Switzerland
|
HB-BZH Stadt Wil | 31:01 | 825,14 |
| 1995-09-09 | Wil (Switzerland) | Wilhelm Eimers, Bernd Landsmann | Germany
|
D-OCOL Columbus II | 92:11 | 1628,10 |
| 1996-09-28 | Warstein (Germany) | Wilhelm Eimers, Bernd Landsmann | Germany
|
D-OCOL Columbus II | 72:01 | 1286,90 |
| 1997-09-07 | Warstein (Germany) | Vincent Leys, Jean François Leys | France
|
F-PPSE Le Petit Prince | 45:30 | 1732,50 |
| 1998-09-12 | Paris (France) | CANCELED | ||||
| 1999-10-01 | Albuquerque (United States) | Phillipe de Cock, Ronny Van Havare | Belgium
|
D-OCOX Belgica II | 40:15 | 1666,54 |
| 2000-09-09 | Saint-Hubert (Belgium) | Wilhelm Eimers, Bernd Landsmann | Germany
|
D-OOWE Columbus IV | 70:49 | 795,70 |
| 2001-09-08 | Warstein (Germany) | Vincent Leys, Jean François Leys | France
|
F-PPSE Le Petit Prince | 77:47 | 1626,60 |
| 2002-08-31 | Châtellerault (France) | Vincent Leys, Jean François Leys | France
|
F-PPSE Le Petit Prince | 69:59 | 1282,30 |
| 2003-09-14 | Arc-et-Senans (France) | Vincent Leys, Jean François Leys | France
|
F-PPSE Le Petit Prince | 53:42 | 1596,50 |
| 2004-08-29 | Thionville (France) | Richard Abruzzo, Carol Rymer Davis | United States
|
N96YD Zero Gravity | 52:52 | 1803,36 |
| 2005-10-01 | Albuquerque (United States) | Bob Berben, Benoît Siméons | Belgium
|
N6326T | 65:20 | 3400,39 |
| 2006-09-09 | Waasmunster (Belgium) | Philippe De Cock, Ronny Van Havere | Belgium
|
D-OCOX Belgica 2 | 66:53 | 2449,60 |
| 2007-09-15 | Brussels (Belgium) | CANCELED | ||||
| 2008-10-07 | Albuquerque (United States) | David Hempleman-Adams, Jonathan Mason |  Great Britain
|
N5054 | 74:12 | 1768,67 |
| 2009-09-04 | Geneva (Switzerland) | |||||