PRESCOT, Colin

Native from Stockbridge, Hampshire he began ballooning at the age of 25 when an Afghan princess took him on his first flight. Colin continued his interest in hot air balloons by founding Flying Pictures, which counts Sylvester Stallone's "Cliffhanger" and the last 8 James Bond films among its credits.

Over the years Colin has managed to combine his background in advertising with his hobby, operating many of the commercial advertising balloons seen in the summer skies and at balloon festivals around the world.

In 1981 Colin made the first ever hot-air balloon flight through a whole night, and later set the record for longest balloon flight in the British Isles.

He was Managing Director of Flying Pictures Ltd, the world's largest operator of hot air balloons and leader of aerial film production and facilities. He was part of the crew along with Andy Elson of the QinetiQ 1 balloon mission aimed to break the manned world altitude record. He was co-pilot of the effort and in charge of relaying pictures of the flight back to earth.

The attempt was originally planned for 2002, but adverse high altitude conditions halted several attempts. In 2003 the launch attempt was aborted due to a failure in the balloon and two years later the project was abandoned.

Related Entries

External Links

Flying pictures - Colin Prescot website