My balloonist friend Jonathan Trappe flew his balloon chair across the English Channel today. He landed safely in a cabbage patch in Dunkirk, France after a five-hour flight.

“It was just an exceptional, quiet, peaceful experience,” Trappe told Sky News television, which covered the adventure.

Asked why he went, Trappe replied: “Didn’t you have this dream, grabbing on to a bunch of toy balloons and floating off? I think it’s something that’s shared across cultures and across borders – just this wonderful fantasy of grabbing on to toy balloons and floating into open space.”

Just so you know, Jonathan isn’t like the nuts who attach balloons to lawn chairs and take off without any training or preparation. Jonathan is a fully-licensed FAA balloonist and meticulously plans each and every flight. He obtains all the proper clearances and absolutely knows what he is doing. This flight was anything but crazy for Jonathan, but it would be quite crazy for you to try it without proper training.

Congrats to Jonathan on his most exciting flight yet! Find out more about him at ClusterBalloon.Com (currently melted down due to all the publicity. Jonathan should consider a clustered webserver!) Here’s a link to find out more about Jonathan.