Wyoming Weather Guru Don Day Helps Team USA At Europe’s Oldest Aviation Race

When Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day isn’t trying to predict the Wyoming’s weird weather, he’s battling the elements internationally.

His most recent excursion saw him helping other Americans soar as long and as far as they could across continental Europe in a balloon.

Day recently traveled abroad to assist three United States teams in the 2024 Gordon Bennett Cut, the oldest gas balloon race in the world. The incredible aerial escapade involves nations competing to float as far as they can across continental Europe.

“It’s the oldest aviation race,” he said. “It predates the Wright Brothers. And they’re not flying hot air balloons. It’s a small group of international people flying hydrogen or helium balloons with crazy maneuvers as far as they can. It’s a complicated international sport.”

While not a pilot, Day’s expertise is critical to the potential success of the U.S. teams, giving them an advantage if he reads and predicts the weather better than the other teams.

Fly The Farthest

The Gordon Bennet Cup started in 1906, sponsored by millionaire and New York Herald owner James Gordon Bennett. The objective of the international event is simple: fly as far as you can from the launch site, and the farthest balloon wins.

Participants get as far as they can while staying as long as they can in the air. That requires constant coordination from the air and on the ground, where Day’s weather wizardry is incredibly valuable.

“My job going over there was to help assist the USA teams in the weather aspects of this race,” he said. “Once you get up in the air, you’re obviously at the mercy of the weather. It means two or three days with very little or no sleep because you have to be monitoring the weather all the time.”

Day has been involved in ballooning — gas and hot air — for over 25 years. During the 2024 Gordon Bennett that launched from Munster, Germany, he provided real-time weather updates to balloon pilots in the air from a “mission control” on the ground.

“I've been involved in weather forecasting for balloon events and balloon projects for a long time,” he said. “I've known these people for a long time, and I’m friends with everyone on the teams. That's why I’m with them.”

He’s a recognized international expert. He was a consultant on the movie “Up!” and was featured in a documentary about Japanese balloon bombs in World War II.

Balloon Blitz

Every year, the Gordon Bennett Cup starts at a different location. The 67th Gordon Bennett Cup started when 21 balloons were launched from Munster, Germany, on Sept. 17.

Once in the air, the gas balloon pilots have to stay alert and aware about more than just weather and winning.

“Safety is No. 1,” Day said. “The only thing you can do to steer a balloon is change altitude, so you have to find the wind currents that keep you out of bad weather — and don’t die.”

Distance is what wins the race. The teams in the air and on the ground coordinate to determine which way the winds are blowing and positioning the gas balloons to get the biggest boost from the bluster.

“It takes a lot of skill to fly these things,” he said. “They carry lots of sandbags. When you drop sand, you lose weight and go up. To go down, you release some of your lifting gas. If you run out of sand, you lose the ability to change altitude.

“By the time you fly three days and three nights, you're usually really low on sand, and you want to have some for landings. It’s a real sport and can get quite complicated.”

Day said this year’s race trended southwest.

When the balloons launched from Germany, they soon floated over France, Spain and Portugal. That’s when teams need to be cognizant of international borders and know which nations are balloon friendly.

“You have all these airspace issues in Europe,” he said. “In the United States, you can go from Wyoming to Colorado or Montana, and the rules are pretty much the same. We take it for granted.

“But when you go from Germany to France, then France to Spain, the way they control airspace is slightly different. You need to assist the balloon teams by getting around areas you're not supposed to fly over.”

Piloting balloons hasn’t gotten much easier in the last century, but communication has improved immensely. Day said the best way to coordinate with the balloon teams was as easy as downloading the right app.

“Technology certainly helps,” he said. “We used to use satellite phones, but the balloons flew low enough that we did most of our communication with WhatsApp.”

High Risk For The Reward

The winners of the 2024 Gordon Bennett Cup were Christian Wagner and Stefanie Liller from Austria. They were airborne for more than 67 hours and traveled more than 2,111 kilometers (1,311 miles).

Day said the top three teams used a high-risk, high-reward strategy to their advantage: going over the Atlantic Ocean.

“They all did crazy maneuvers over the Atlantic Ocean for several hours, going up to 19,000 feet, and landed in the far southern tip of Portugal,” he said. “If they had missed or the winds shifted, they would have been out in the water.

“The USA teams weren’t interested in flying out over the Atlantic. But since they didn’t want to spend time over water, we had no options to finish in the top three.”

The U.S. teams all placed in the top 15, but there was no bitterness over their placement or decision not to use the Atlantic Ocean to their advantage. Besides, even though it’s an international event in Europe, the United States has won the Gordon Bennett 12 times, more than any other nation.

“It was high stakes, and these guys are super competitive,” Day said. “But the No. 1 one goal is to be safe and have fun.”

Soaring To New Highs

While this wasn’t Day’s first experience with the Gordon Bennett Cup, it was his first time doing it internationally. He described his experience as “a blur.”

“Last year, the race was out of Albuquerque, New Mexico,” he said. “It's all blur, because you go and get there, and you're in a different time zone, and then you don't get much sleep. You have to get your bearing straight, and it’s hard to do it in a different time zone half a world away.”

Nevertheless, Day can’t get enough of it.

The Gordon Bennett community is small, and he’s one of the few who regularly get to lend their passion and expertise to the oldest aviation race in the world.

“Nothing beats flying over the European countryside in a balloon,” he said. “They went over France, Belgium, the Pyrenees and the Spanish countryside. I mean, yeah, let's compete.

“But at the same time, what an opportunity to see Europe like that. Not many people get that chance.”

Contact Andrew Rossi at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.