"Math lets dreams take flight" ™ Julian Nott


In his unequalled career Nott has set 79 offical World Ballooning Records, 96 official British Records and completed many other projects. But Nott stresses that record-breaking is never the central objective. "Most of all I hope to use science to advance and innovate. But setting a world record is indisputable proof of the success of a new design." Indeed Nott is changing the course of balloon history: for detail click here for "INNOVATIVE DESIGN" Below are just a few examples of his record breaking and related projects..

Nott designs & builds the world's first pressurized cabin for a hot air balloon & pilots it to a world record altitude of 45,836 feet. Click to view the details and dramatic photography

Nott designs and builds the world's second pressurized cabin for a hot air balloon and pilots to a world record altitude of 55,134 feet from Longmont, Colorado. Click to view the details and dramatic photography

Nott directs all the technological aspects of Judith Chisholm's solo flight around the world in a Cessna single-engine plane. The flight breaks 29 world records including the 44-year-old record for a solo flight from England to Australia. The London Times wrote "This will always be regarded as one of the most remarkable solo round the world flights."
  

Nott is the first to cross the Sahara Desert in a hot air balloon.
Click to view the details and dramatic photography

Nott makes the first crossing of Australia via hot air balloon from Perth to Broken Hill.
Click to view the details and dramatic photography

This envelope was carried to over 37,000 feet from Kuruman, a town northwest of Kimberly in the South African desert. This set a world altitude record for class AX-7.

 
 
The world's first, small solar balloon was built by Dominic Michaelis. His young son, Stephane, was lifted under it by the heat of the sun on a short tether. Dominic then built a full-size solar balloon. "However," says Nott, "some time passed before we had the courage to make a free flight."

Meanwhile, Tracy Barnes built and flew his tetrahedral solar balloon. Only later did Nott fly Dominic's free balloon. Thus, the honor of building the first solar balloons goes to Dominic, but the honor of having made the first free solar balloon flight goes to Tracy.