Trappe來自美國，是一名IT資訊公司的技術項目經理。白天，他同很多職員一樣，做著基本沒太大變化的工作。但平時的閒暇時間，Trappe則把心思都放在了自己的愛好上。他日復一日的研究著如何利用大量氦氣球來實現載人飛行。Trappe實現著皮克斯動畫《飛屋環遊記》裡的場景，成為現實版的卡爾爺爺。
- Imagine as a child, you thought, if you could just get enough helium balloons, could you float away?
當我們還是個孩子的時候會設想，如果有足夠的氦氣球，我們能飛起來嗎？
And we're normally told, no, that's not possible.
大人們通常都會說，那是不可能的。
You're not going to be able to fly with the helium balloons.
用氦氣球飛不起來。
But I revisited that idea as an adult.
但成年以後，我又有了這個想法。
And I argued if one balloon provides some unit of lift, why wouldn't we be able to scale that?
我想說，如果每個氣球都能提供一定的浮力，那我們多用些氣球不就行了嗎？
And that's what we're doing.
我們實際上也是這麼做的。
I'm flying my chair.
我坐著椅子飛起來了。
My name is Trappe and I am a technical projects manager at a large IT consulting firm as a day job.
我是Trappe，是一家大型IT諮詢公司的技術項目經理。
But I have a unusual passion hobby, which is to take helium balloons, toy, helium balloons, and assemble them in massive clusters for manned flight.
但我有個不同尋常的富有激情的愛好——玩具氦氣球，把大量的氦氣球組合起來用於載人飛行。
These are loons that were never intended to support manned flight, but that's what we've caused them to do.
這些氣球從未打算被用於載人飛行，但也正因如此，我們才會這麼做。
- 17,100 still climbing.
當前高度17100英尺，仍在繼續攀升。
- That passion has carried me aloft on more than a dozen flights across as many years.
這份激情讓我在數年間進行了十餘次飛行。
Sometimes it's just me, just my body in a tiny little harness, sometimes we're flying bigger things, I've flown houses.
有時獨自飛行，一個人，空間狹小，有時飛行器會很大，我們甚至飛過房子。
What a thing to say, I've flown houses, two of them.
要怎麼說呢，我飛過房子，而且還是兩個。
We were flying these toy helium balloons before the Disney Pixar film "Up."
在迪士尼皮克斯的電影《飛屋環遊記》之前，我們就在飛這些玩具氦氣球。
But I will say this, that the film "Up" also inspired us.
但我要說的是，電影《飛屋環遊記》也給了我們靈感。
Now, the idea of flying a house under toy helium balloons absolutely came from the Disney Pixar film.
現在,用玩具氦氣球讓房子飛起來的想法就來自於迪士尼皮克斯的電影。
One of the things I love about flying these helium balloons is they have the capability for real expedition level flights.
我喜歡飛這些氦氣球的原因之一是它們是真正的探險級別的飛行。
What I'm talking about is flights of 23,000 feet in an open gondola carried only by helium balloons.
我說的是23000英尺高度在敞篷吊船上只用氦氣球進行的飛行。
13,000 feet, as we cross the Alps.
在13,000英尺的高空，我們穿越阿爾卑斯山。
It varies from a small cluster, couple of dozen balloons to extraordinarily large towering clusters, 365 of these massive balloons.
氦氣球組合的大小不一，從很小的一束，到二十幾個氣球，再到很大的一簇——365個這樣巨大的氣球。
We've flown clusters for 10 hours,12 hours,14 hours.
我們飛行過10小時、12小時、14小時。
The longest we've ever flown in a single flight,466 miles.
單次飛行的最長距離為466英裡。
When I take off, I don't know where I'm going to put down.
起飛的時候，我並不知道要在哪裡降落。
I'll select a safe place to land in flight, but I'm flying hundreds of miles without knowing exactly where I'll land.
我會選擇一個安全的著陸點，但飛了好幾百英裡卻不知道要降落在哪裡。
We're good, we're down.
我們太棒了，我們完成降落了。
So it's a mix of art and science.
這是藝術和科學的結合。
The art is the colorful cluster appealing balloons, but the science is, it is quite serious and I treat it seriously.
藝術指的是五彩繽紛的一簇簇吸引人的氣球，科學指的是飛行這件事很嚴肅，我們認真對待。
There's human life at stake, my life and the lives of those I share the sky with and the lives of those under me.
這過程中有生命危險，包括我的生命、同享天空的夥伴的生命以及在我們下方的路人的生命。
Hello, how are you?
你好！
We work with the Federal Aviation Administration in terms of getting the aircraft certified.
我們與聯邦航空管理局合作，獲得了飛行認證。
London, this is Gas Balloon, calling to activate my flight plan.
倫敦倫敦，我是氦氣球號，請求準許飛行。
took me about a year to go to flight school, get a pilots license.
我花了大約一年的時間去飛行學校，拿到了飛行員執照。
And after about a year of tests and training and certifications, we made our first flight.
經過一年的考試、培訓和認證，我們進行了首飛。
I'm using my standard office chair as my gondola for that flight.
那次飛行我用了自己的辦公椅當飛行吊船。
When you're up there, it's not just leisure and relaxation.
飛上天空以後，感受到的不僅僅是休閒和放鬆。
You're floating away, you have moments of that, but there's a lot more time spent thinking, okay, am I heading the right direction?
有時候會飄動，但更多時候是用來思考，我飛行的方向對嗎？
Do I have any airspace where obstacles in front of me.
前面障礙物的地方有空域嗎？
Okay, we're climbing 120, right at 18,000 feet.
我們上升了120英尺，在18000英尺的高度。
So just trying to get this guy to a zero pressure figure, you have to fly the aircraft.
為了保持零壓強，必須要手動操控氦氣球。
If I'm climbing and I need to initiate a descent, I need to vent helium.
如果正在上升，下降的時候我需要排出氦氣。
Balloons are bio degradable.
氣球是可生物降解的。
So we can also cut the balloons away, cut away individual balloons.
所以我們也可以剪掉這些氣球，剪掉單個的氣球。
So there's a whole calculation and it changes every flight, depending on what I'm flying.
其中涉及到計算，每次飛行都因搭載的東西不同而有所改變。
The feeling of launching is unparalleled, it's not like anything else.
起飛時的心情無與倫比，與眾不同。
To fly an aircraft that's completely silent, makes no sound.
我們的飛行器一點聲音也沒有。
We're approaching sunset.
我們正接近夕陽。
It's really beautiful out there.
真的很漂亮。
There's no rotor, there's no prop, there's no jet.
沒有旋翼，沒有起落架，它不是噴氣式飛機。
There's no burner like a hot air balloon.
沒有什麼飛行器能比得上熱氣球。
There's no roar of wind like you get in a glider.
它沒有像滑翔機那樣的呼嘯聲。
It's completely silent.
沒有一點聲音。
Like, listen.
聽。
There's no sound.
沒有聲音。
So what's the whole point of this.
這麼做的意義是什麼呢？
Why do it?
為什麼這麼做？
It's to lead an interesting life.
因為這樣的生活才有趣。
That is the most beautiful moonrise I've seen in my entire life.
那是我這輩子見過的最美的月亮。
It enriches my life to look back and reflect on what we've accomplished.
回顧和反思我們所取得的成就豐富了我的生活。
I have all of those moments as prized memories to keep me warm in my old age.
在我年邁的時候，這些珍貴的記憶會讓我感到溫暖。