Elderly pilots to try to be first to cross Atlantic in hydrogen gas balloon 

Three, with a combined age of more than 200, becoming 'more adventurous with age'

Route will take them from Maine in the US, over Newfoundland in Canada, across the Atlantic Ocean, and then Ireland and Scottish waters before they land in Europe. File picture Denis Minihane

Three pilots with a combined age of more than 200 are to attempt the first hydrogen open-basket gas balloon crossing of the Atlantic next month.

British explorer David Hempleman-Adams, 66, American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen, 72, will embark on the adventure and will be the oldest people to cross the Atlantic in an open-basket gas balloon.