escape from germany in a hot air balloon
Night Crossing
title: East German balloon escape text: East German balloon escape The East German balloon escape was an incident occurring at approximately 2:00 AM on September 16, 1979, in which two families, with eight members in total, escaped the communist country of East Germany by crossing the border to West Germany in a homemade hot air balloon. The plot to accomplish this was carried out over a period of one and a half years, including an unsuccessful attempt, three different balloons, and various modifications until the successful escape occurred. One failed crossing alerted the government to the plot, but the police were not able to identify the title: East German balloon escape text: balloon and the added weight of the water caused the balloon to descend. They landed safely approximately from the border at the edge of the heavily mined border zone. Unsure of where they were, Strelzyk explored until he found a piece of litter – a bread bag from a bakery in Wernigerode, an East German town. The family spent nine hours carefully extricating themselves from the wide border zone to avoid detection. They also had to travel unnoticed through a restricted zone before hiking back a total of to their car and all the launch paraphernalia they left there. They title: Hot air balloon text: "Pacific Flyer" recorded the fastest ground speed for a manned balloon at . The longest duration record was set by Swiss psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, Auguste Piccard's grandson; and Briton Brian Jones, flying in the Breitling Orbiter 3. It was the first nonstop trip around the world by balloon. The balloon left Château-d'Oex, Switzerland, on March 1, 1999, and landed at 1:02 a.m. on March 21 in the Egyptian desert south of Cairo. The two men exceeded distance, endurance, and time records, traveling 19 days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes. Steve Fossett, flying solo, exceeded the record for briefest time traveling title: East German balloon escape text: the English translation of the German name. The Strelzyks were reportedly "moved to tears" at the screening of the movie at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Peter Strelzyk died in 2017 at age 74 after a long illness. In 2017, the balloon was put on permanent exhibition at the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (Museum of Bavarian History). The family members included: East German balloon escape The East German balloon escape was an incident occurring at approximately 2:00 AM on September 16, 1979, in which two families, with eight members in total, escaped the communist country of East Germany by title: East German balloon escape text: could have traveled another had the balloon remained intact. They made out the border crossing at Rudolphstein on the A9 and saw the search lights. When the propane ran out they descended quickly, landing near the town of Naila, in the West German state of Bavaria and only six miles from the border. No one was hurt, except Wetzel who broke his leg upon landing. They thought they had made it as they had seen red and yellow colored lights which were not common in East Germany. They also saw small farms, different than the large state-run operations in the