Bert Padelt built an impressive resume helping other people complete their ballooning journeys. Operating out of his Bally balloon-manufacturing and repair shop, he assisted multiple aeronauts on their adventures.
 

Bert Padelt in Luxembourg after the Atlantic Ex- plorer touched donwn on June 7.

            Last month, Padelt made history by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon he built. On its fourth attempt, a three-person crew braved freezing temperatures and thin air in an open basket to complete an estimated 2,852-mile journey.
            At 12:50 a.m. on June 7, the Atlantic Explorer completed its flight in less than three days – nearly twice as fast as originally planned – by safely touching down in Luxembourg. Padelt and his crewmates became the first balloonists ever to complete a transoceanic flight in a balloon utilizing hydrogen as the sole source of lift.
            "It's all I thought about for the last three years," he said. "It's a relief that this attempt didn't fail, and satisfying that I accomplished something I wanted to do for a long time. It's a wonderful feeling."
            The Washington Township resident described the accomplishment as the fulfillment of a childhood dream. He became emotional when the balloon 

Bert Padelt and Alicia Hempleman-Adams in the stainless- steel and nylon basket during the flight.

passed over Normandy Beach, in France, on the anniversary of D-Day.
            "That's when it hit home for me," he said.

            Padelt, the owner of Best Aviation Services. Inc., located at 617 Walnut St. in the borough, spent the last 20 years building balloons for adventurers. He participated in Steve Fossett's solo round-the-world balloon flight in 2002 as systems director. Claiming to have accepted the idea that his dream of traversing the Atlantic had passed him by, he convinced himself to be satisfied with his previous success.
            "I told myself I needed to change my way of thinking," said Padelt, 66, who moved to Pennsylvania from Virginia in 1988 and purchased the shop seven years later. "I figured the best way to utilize my expertise would be by helping others. I was a much better builder than I was a pilot."

The sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, June 5,  from an altitude of 13,200 feet.

            Four years ago, his dream became a possibility when an aeronaut he helped complete two flights suggested that they do a flight together as a payback. Padelt planned a departure from Presque Isle, Maine, the site of the 1978 launch of the first successful transatlantic hot-air balloon flight that captured his imagination as a teenager.
            Weather prevented a launch in 2023. The following year, heavy winds forced the balloon to make an emergency landing in New Brunswick, Canada. Technical issues cancelled last year's attempt.
            Earlier this month, the crew that included Peter Cuneo, a New Mexican with more than 2,100 balloon hours, and Alicia Hempleman-Adams – who, at 36 years old, became the youngest British citizen and only the second woman to cross the ocean in a balloon – launched at 2:20 a.m. on June 5 from the same Maine location.

            The crew – contained in a stainless-steel basket measuring six feet long and 4 ½ feet wide, covered in tight nylon fabric that included copious amounts of water, Gatorade and batteries – set up on lawn chairs. They slept in shifts, usually for four hours at a time.

           "There was enough room to move around," Padelt said. "We were all able to stretch out. It was kind of like camping in the sky."       

            They steered the balloon to an altitude of 20,000 feet, where temperatures plummeted to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Padelt dressed for an exploration of Antarctica. He noted that the portable oxygen systems they wore allowed them to fly higher than expected.

            "There weren't really any surprises," he said. "The wind was really fast."

            The crew utilized cell phones and a tablet to complete the trip. Padelt told a Czech newspaper that it had access to Wi-Fi the entire time. He said the trio communicated with its command center, with locations on both sides of the ocean every hour, via WhatsApp.

            Padelt credited two meteorologists, Don Day and Randy LeFever, as the keys to the flight's success. The pilot told the newspaper that Day and LeFever identified high-pressure weather systems. He said the balloon would climb to a higher altitude each day to stay with this system.

            "Having them tracking us during the flight gave me great peace of mind," Padelt told the publication.