An American cluster-balloonist caused a stir at this year’s International Balloon Festival in Mexico by recreating the famous floating house from Pixar’s film Up. Highlights from his colourful flight can be seen in the gallery below.

Jonathan Trappe, an IT manager by day, also made news in 2010 when he flew from England to Belgium using scores of helium balloons. He also holds records for crossing the Alps, flying the most cluster balloons at one time, and covering the longest distance in one go.

Trappe was using this past weekend’s event as a warm-up before a trans-Atlantic flight scheduled for next year. He plans to strap himself into a 2 metre long lifeboat, held in the air by 365 balloons, before travelling more than 4 000 kilometres from Maine in America to Paris in France.

I didn’t wake up one day and think, ‘I’m going to fly across the Atlantic’. Every attempt before this was geared towards this flight. I’ve been training for a long time. It is one of Earth’s great challenges. It is the great white whale of adventure.

[Source: The Daily]