An intrepid adventurer has taken to the sky in a house attached to helium balloons, in scenes reminiscent to the Disney movie Up, ahead of a planned voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

Going Up: Jonathan Trappe takes off in his cluster balloon house at the Leon International Balloon Festival (Picture: Laurentiu Garofeanu/ Barcroft)

Jonathan Trappe, 38, was inspired by the 2009 Pixar animation in which 78-year-old protagonist Carl Frederickson fulfils his lifelong dream of seeing South America by building a balloon house.

The cluster balloonist from Raleigh in North Carolina, debuted his floating house at the Leon International Balloon festival in Mexico two days ago.

He used the event as a warm-up for a 2,500 mile transatlantic balloon flight in a 7ft lifeboat scheduled for next summer.



He said: ‘I didn’t wake up one day and think: “I’m going to fly across the Atlantic”.

‘Every attempt before this was geared towards this flight. I’ve been training for a long time.’

In 2010 he became the first person to fly the English Channel attached to helium-filled balloons.

‘It’s about living an interesting life – for me as the pilot and those watching,’ he added.

‘So, one day we can look back and say: “Humankind were able to pull this off. They did it”.’

VIDEO:Jonathan Trappe launches balloon house

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