HERITAGE
the balloon, he was ready to fl y. When the ropes holding the balloon were released, it reached a height of 350 feet, travelling half a mile and landing in Restalrig Village. He is reputed to have exclaimed that the
fl ight was ‘most agreeable with no giddiness’ and ‘he amused himself by looking at the spec- tators below’. With few people watching the fi rst fl ight,
news of a second attempted fl ight of the balloon turned into a major public event. Comely Gardens, and the slopes of Arthur’s Seat and Calton Hill were crowded with people wanting to witness this historic event. The balloon was eventually infl ated and with Tytler in the basket it rose to around 100ft and enthralled the spectators. His fi nal fl ight in October of that year ended
when the balloon crashed in front of hundreds of paying spectators in Comely Gardens. Nevertheless, by this date, he had twice left the ground in a craft of his own design and construction, becoming the ‘fi rst person in Great Britain to have navi- gated the air’ according to the Edinburgh Advertiser of the day. In 1792 he fl ed to Ireland after being
arrested for producing anti-Government pamphlets. Three years later he emigrated to the USA and died in January 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts,
‘It is intended to build the new balloon using all the latest in balloon fabric technology and burner systems’
drowning while
walking home. Graeme Houston fi rst heard of James
Tytler when he started fl ying balloons back in the 1980s. Edinburgh University had a balloon club, and it was through their naming a balloon ‘Tytler’ that it was brought to his attention. Over the years as a profes- sional balloon pilot Graeme was asked about the history of ballooning, and when he brought up the name of Tytler no one knew anything about him, which made him all the more curious to fi nd out more. He discovered a book called ‘Balloon Tytler’, a name given to Tytler after his mishaps. The idea of recreating the fl ight came about
after Homecoming 2009 – in which Tytler’s feat had not been included. Having made contract with various bodies involved, he was dismayed to fi nd that
there were no plans to honour
Tytler’s achievements, especially in Edinburgh where the fl ights had taken place. This gave Graeme the enthusiasm for the
project. Working closely with Ultramagic Balloons in Spain, a new visual for the balloon has been created working from the drawings of the original ‘Grand Edinburgh Fire Balloon’. It is intended to build the new balloon using
all the latest in balloon fabric technology and burner systems. ‘We had thought about rebuild-
96 WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK
ing a replica with his methods. However, this would be costly, and also we would never be able to fl y it because of the lack of control, which matters these days, with so many obsta- cles in the way, like power lines,’ said Graeme. The estimated cost of the balloon is £75,000,
and this is where sponsorship is necessary. It is intended to launch the balloon from central Edinburgh and there are plans to take it perhaps to the Hot Air Balloon Museum in Albuquerque and let it become an ambassador for Scotland. Graeme started fl ying when he worked at Glasgow Airport for Loganair in 1988 and has
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