The Team
The Pilots.
pilot on all 3 attempts.
Nationality: Swiss. Profession: Psychiatrist
Brian Jones - project manager for capsule & systems design and production, and operating pilot Breitling Orbiter 3.
Nationality: British. Profession: Balloon pilot.
The Flight Director & Operations Team.
Our flight director was Alan Noble from CameronBalloons in Bristol. He was in overall charge of the
production and planning of the balloon construction
and mission with all three Breitling Orbiter projects.
In the control centre he was the head of the Ops team:
(left to right, top to bottom)
John Albury, Debbie Albury, Brian Smith, Sue Tatford,
Cecilia Smith, Joanna Jones, Alan Noble.
The Meteorologists.
from Switzerland.
The Air Traffic Controllers.
We had three full time Swiss air traffic controllers dedicated to our control centre in Geneva whilst the balloon was flying - Patrick Schelling, Niklaus Gerber and Greg Moegli.
The Engineers and Designers.
Our key design engineers were Dave Boxall (balloon envelope and systems), Pete Johnson (burners and fuel system), Kieran Sturrock (electrical, communications and life support). Additional technicians for the capsule build were Bill Sly and Dave Seager-Thomas.
Etc.
There were contributions from many others: the staff at Cameron Balloons in Bristol, the launch team and field security in Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland. Sponsors, marketing and PR. Sub contractors and consultants both in the UK and Switzerland. Government ministers, diplomats and local authorities. You know who you are and that you have my sincere thanks and gratitude.
Lastly, but by no means least.
My wife, Joanna, who was part of the Operations Team, but so much more. Her support throughout the project was constant and unwavering, and her stoicism and professionalism whilst the balloon was in the air was quite remarkable. She is certainly, as the song describes it, the wind beneath my wings.
