• Jonathan Trappe used a cluster of helium balloons to carry him over the Straits of Dover to France. Picture: PA Jonathan Trappe set off from a field in Kent, hoping to become the first cluster balloonist to cross the Channel. Mr Trappe, 36, from the United States, set off shortly after 5am from a gliding club, taking an hour to reach the coast, and spent about an hour and three-quarters over the Channel before reaching Dunkirk. As he soared high over the French countryside, he cut away balloons to descend, heading towards the Belgian border. His feat was reminiscent of the hero of the hit animated film Up, in which a pensioner attaches hundreds of coloured balloons to his house.