Vincent: High? Yes. Hot air? No.
Not exactly the first subject that springs to mind when you’re designing a hot-air balloon, but the end result is quite … uh, well, it’s pretty bizarre, actually.
The good ship Vincent Van Gogh has been rendering friendly skies around the world a little more startling since March 30, 2003, when it was inflated for the first time in Zundert, the Netherlands.
Professional balloonist Hans Zoet is usually, if not always, the pilot, on behalf of the Dutch brewery Bavaria, a bottler that’s even older than Vincent would be if he were still around to see his head floating monstrously if harmlessly through space wearing an advertising banner around his neck.
The photos here come from various sources, including Airliners.net, which seems a bit of a stretch, and different shutterbugs in New Zealand and Australia.
In the latter country the 30-metre-tall Vincent Van Gogh took part in the Canberra Balloon Fiesta. Australia’s quaintly named Liquorland booze chain distributes Bavaria and its sister beer Hollandia.
