In 1975, Jim Woodman and Julian Nott built Condor 1 in Peru using a cotton envelope, a totora-reed gondola, native-fiber ropes and huarango logs for fuel, with construction methods intended to replicate pre-Columbian technology. Totora was also used for boats around Lake Titicaca. Smoke heated the air inside the envelope, and soot particles helped seal the porous fabric—the hot-air principle the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated in France in 1783. On 28 November 1975, Condor 1 climbed to 600 feet in 30 seconds. A crash threw both men clear; the balloon then rose to 1,200 feet without them. The flight lasted 18 minutes. Nott said: "While I do not see any evidence that the Nazca civilization did fly, it's beyond any doubt that they could have." The improved Condor 2 flew in 2003 for Japanese television. The experiment showed that such materials could work, not that the Nazca actually flew balloons.
1975 Condor 1 flight demonstrated ballooning with materials available to the Nazca
Key facts
- Jim Woodman and Julian Nott built Condor 1 in Peru using a cotton envelope, a totora-reed gondola, native-fiber ropes tested to a strength of eight tons, and huarango logs for fuel, following methods intended to replicate pre-Columbian technology.
- Totora was also used to make boats around Lake Titicaca.
- Smoke heated the air inside the envelope, while soot particles helped seal the porous fabric—the hot-air principle the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated in France in 1783.
- On 28 November 1975, Condor 1 climbed to 600 feet in 30 seconds.
- A crash threw Woodman and Nott clear; the balloon then rose to 1,200 feet without them. The flight lasted 18 minutes.
- Nott stated: "While I do not see any evidence that the Nazca civilization did fly, it's beyond any doubt that they could have."
- The improved Condor 2 flew in 2003 for Japanese television.
Sources
Nazca "Spaceport" | Encyclopedia.comencyclopedia.com
They constructed a balloon using the same materials as those available to the ancient Nazcans. The envelope used cotton fabric similar to that in the gravesites ...
The Nazca Lines | Interesting Thing of the Day - ITotDitotd.com
They created a balloon out of cotton fabric, inflated it using only the heat from a wood fire, and attached a reed basket to it as their gondola ...
- Wild winds sweep the giant Condor I balloon from...equatorjournal.com
Wild winds sweep the giant Condor I balloon from its lines in the early stages of inflation, 1975. “In the first century BC the Nazca ...
Nazca - Julian Nottnott.com
The gondola for Condor I and the man who built it from the totora reed of Lake Titicaca. He previously built the Ra Raft for Thor Heyerdahl. Photographs by ...
Nazca Balloon Flight Over Ancient Lines | PDF - Scribdru.scribd.com
The document summarizes Julian Nott's recreation of a hot air balloon flight over the Nazca Lines in Peru using only materials and techniques that would ...
Three Days of the Condoren.wikipedia.org
Three Days of the Condor is a 1975 American spy thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von ...
Three Days of the Condor movie reviewrogerebert.com
"Three Days of the Condor" is a well-made thriller, tense and involving, and the scary thing, in these months after Watergate, is that it's all too.
Condor: Historycondor-newsroom.condor.com
On March 12, 2024 the last commercial Condor flight by a Boeing B767-300ER arrived from Havana, Cuba to Frankfurt. The aircraf with the ...
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