In commemoration of the annual, World famous Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which is happening right now in Albuquerque, NM, we are delighted to present this colorful rib tattoo featuring two hot air balloons. Propelled only by gossamer breezes and lifted by hot air contained within the colorful envelope, hot air ballooning remains one of the most serene forms of aviation today.

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What makes the Albuquerque Int’l Balloon Fiesta special is the unique Autumn weather patterns that the region enjoys.  The “Albuquerque Box” where the cool morning temperatures in October promote Southerly low level winds and Northerly higher level winds – thereby allowing balloon pilots to fly in a vertical box pattern that will optimally bring them back near the launch site for landing.  This convenient meteorological phenomena eliminates the need for crews to travel far from the launch site for recovery.

The Fiesta traces it’s roots back to 1972 when KOB, the local radio station, approached Sid Cutter, an owner of Cutter Flying Service (now Cutter Aviation) and the first person in New Mexico to own a hot air balloon, to fly his balloon “Roadrunner” as part of the station’s 50th anniversary festivities.  As the discussion continued, it was decided to expand it in an attempt to break the record for the largest gathering up until then… a 19 balloon gathering in England.

The original event in 1972 drew 13 balloons from around the United States, but the event grew rapidly after that point. Balloon attendance reached it’s peak of 1,013 balloons in 2000, but a cap of 750 entrants was established after that as a way to promote “quality over quantity.”

In addition to the nine-day event being the World’s largest gathering of hot air balloons, it is also widely considered to be the World’s most photographed event… with the sight of hundreds of colorful balloons in the air to be one of the most breathtaking sights in aviation.

This beautiful tattoo on the ribs of a fit female balloon enthusiast was created by tattoo artist Ant Iannucci of Ascension Tattoo in Orlando, FL.

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Sure, the Wright Brothers get the fame and glory for being the first to create and pilot a powered, heavier-than-air flying machine, but it was a pair of brothers 120 years earlier who found a way to allow a human to see the world from the air.

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were born into a French family known as paper manufacturers in the 1740’s.  Joseph with an inventors heart and Jacques with a business brain, the two started experimenting with hot-air lift after Joseph witnessed clothes billowing under a fire that was being used to dry them.  On June 4th 1783, they performed their first public experiment with a balloon reaching around 6000 feet over 2 km.  Their first “manned” balloon carrying a sheep, duck, and rooster took flight on September 19, 1783. 

Finally on November 21, 1783 the brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent using a balloon they designed — carrying a young physician, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, and a ZFrench army officer, François Laurent d’Arlandes. The flight flew over nine miles and reached an altitude of 3000 feet before landing.

The early flights of the Montgolfier balloons created a sensation in France — engravings, paintings, furniture, and dishes carried the image of the famous (and decorative) balloon.  Certainly if tattoos were more in the public vogue of the time, people would have been walking around with permanent tributes of the balloon on their skin.

This particular tribute - coming 226 years later, was created by tattoo artist Katie Davis of Salvation Tattoo Gallery in Richmond, VA.

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Before there were airplanes, there were gliders, and before there were gliders, there were balloons.  In fact, balloons and dirigibles were the only way a human could take flight for 120 years — the time between the first flight of the Montgolfier brothers’ first human-carrying balloon in 1783 and the Wright Brothers’ flight in a heavier-than-air vehicle in 1903.

This tattoo shows an early gas-filled balloon common throughout the 19th century.  It was done by Annie Lloyd at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, NY.

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