Chauncey Morgan Dunn
Inducted into the U. S. Ballooning Hall of Fame on July 27, 2014
By the Balloon Federation of America at the
National Balloon Museum, Indianola, Iowa
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“Bear Cat” ready for lift off in his 1979
record setting flight
Chauncey (C.M.) Dunn in 1974
“Stratosaurus” Chauncey used this in his
1971 World record setting flight to 32,949' in
Longmont, Colorado in 1971
Chauncey’s
balloon
“Western
Spirit”
Acquired in
1986
Chauncey Dunn preparing “Bear Cat” for his world record setting 53,200' as-
cent from Indianola, Iowa August 1, 1979. This flight broke all previous hot air
balloon altitude records
Chauncey Dunn
Chauncey in his element
Chauncey dressed for
his 1971 flight
Chauncey inflating balloon, wearing
patriotic outfit.
Chauncey and
Karl Stefan
celebrating the
1971 flight
CHAUNCEY MORGAN DUNN
January 6, 1932-October 8, 2012
Denver, Colorado
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EARLY YEARS: Chauncey Dunn was born January 6, 1932 in Elgin, Illinois. His family moved to Denver, Colorado when he
was just a toddler. In Colorado he eventually became a great outdoorsman, enjoying everything Colorado had to offer. He grew up
to become an avid hunter, fisherman, skier, kayaker, driver of fast cars, four-wheeler, river rafter & guide on the Colorado River in
the Grand Canyon.
EDUCATION AND CAREER: Chauncey graduated from Cathedral High School In Denver and attended Colorado
A & M (Colorado State University), taught real estate at Denver University, and served as a Marine 1951-1953. His first
career was in real estate 1953-1973 and in 1971 closed over $21 million in sales.
FAMILY: Chauncey married
his wife Marie in 1953. They
had two daughters, Cheri
and Kelly. Cheri married Eric
Luck and Kelly married John
Hamilton. Chauncey was
very close to Eric and John.
Marie died of cancer in 1996.
They had three grandchil-
dren and one great-
grandchild. In 1997 he mar-
ried Greta and acquired her
children, Tina Johns (Frank),
Karen School and Steve Jonas (Sue), and her nine
grandchildren and four great-grandchildren which
also gave Chauncey much great joy and family
legacy.
Chauncey with wife Greta and his family.
BALLOONING CAREER: He bought his first balloon over the telephone, never having seen a balloon except in pictures. He
taught himself for 9 months and had instruction from Karl and Lucy Stefan. He earned his flight certificate in 1969 and had his first
solo balloon flight in 1970. More than any other person, Chauncey was responsible for bringing the sport of ballooning to Colorado
and he sold balloons for Raven/Aerostar for 20 years, 1972-1992. He started a mini warehouse business in 1972 which he owned
until his death. It is now operated by his daughters. In 1972 he became president of American Balloon Adventures Ltd. and sold
rides, Raven Balloons, and was a commercial balloonist. After his retirement from Dunn Real Estate, at age 40 in 1973, he spent a
great deal of time hot-air ballooning throughout the United States and abroad. He founded balloon races throughout the U. S. in-
cluding races in Steamboat Springs, Snowmass, Vail/Avon, Crested Butte and Colorado Springs, and he worked on others. In 1977
he bought his first gas balloon. He ballooned over the Andes, the Alps, and the Rockies and traveled extensively to all seven conti-
nents. He was the first gas balloonist in Colorado, and one of the first to cross the Continental Divide in a gas balloon. He traveled
extensively in all seven continents, finally reaching Antarctica in his late 70s.
Chauncey set some world ballooning records. In 1971 he ascended from Longmont, Colorado in an AX-3 balloon to a world
record altitude of 32,949 feet which broke all previous hot air balloon altitude records. (See pictures on page 1.)
In 1974 Chauncey was one of the founding members of the Colorado Balloon Club. The initial meeting for the group was in his
home basement with 28 prospective Club members present. In 1977 he founded the Rocky Mountain Gas Balloon Society with the
purpose of promoting gas ballooning in Colorado and the United States.
In 1979 he successfully set another hot air balloon altitude record in a balloon called “Bear Cat” using an open basket and rising
to an altitude of 53,206 feet from Indianola, Iowa. On that flight he experienced –70 Fº at his highest point and could no longer see
or hear his burner flame due to lack of oxygen and, after the flight was checked into a hospital for observation and released the next
day. (See pictures of the 1979 flight on page 1.)
When Denver pilots were looking for a launch site, Chauncey helped form the Chatfield Balloon Port Association which worked
with the ballooning community and the Colorado State Parks Department to allow balloons to take off and land in a state park. In
general, Chauncey helped build the foundation for the sport of ballooning in Colorado.
Chauncey’s High School Picture
Chauncey & wife
Marie
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Many balloon pilots owe their enthusiasm for the sport of ballooning to Chauncey’s friendly nature and passionate love of bal-
looning. He was a prankster and played practical jokes on other balloonists and friends including people like Malcolm Forbes,
Dennis Floden and Kingswood Sprott. A notable payback for his pranks occurred when one day he arrived at work to find a 3-hole
outhouse sitting in front of his real estate office with a “It’s Dunn Sold” sign on it, and a dummy seated inside wearing his clothes.
Chauncey’s enthusiasm for ballooning also resulted in 2
daughters and one son-in-law becoming balloon pilots.
Chauncey had five hand painted balloons made during
his ballooning career, 4 done by artist Charlie Market:
“The Carousel”, “The Grand Carousel”, “The Big Top”, and
“Western Spirit”. The “Kelly’s Kloud” balloon was hand tie-
dyed by another artist. The “Western Spirit” balloon was
sponsored by US West. When Chauncey flew this balloon
he wore a cowboy hat as shown at left. He logged over
4,700 hours piloting balloons over his career and owned
and flew 22 balloons of his own.
Below is the flight plan for Chauncey Dunn’s World Altitude Record Setting Flight at Indianola August 1, 1979. The flight was
launched in darkness at 5:01 a.m. at an airfield just north of Indianola, Iowa. He wore a pressurized Air Force flight suit with dual
pressure breathing equipment and two parachutes, dual variometers, sealed barograph, dual 720 radios, encoder altimeter, two
transponders, two 20-gallon tanks of propane fuel and two with heavy exotic fuel. He switched to the later fuel when he reached
15,000 feet. The temperature dropped to –70ºf and his instruments iced up and he was not able to read them. Most of his lights
exploded, and at one point he could no longer hear the burner or see the flame and he experienced a mild case of oxygen narco-
sis and stinging in all his joints. He was hospitalized over night as a precaution and released the next day. The flight lasted 2
hours and 31 minutes landing 3 miles south of Indianola. His basket for this record-setting flight is on display in the National Bal-
loon Museum.
Chauncey’s balloon “Western Spirit” in flight
Chauncey
WORLD ALTITUDE RECORD
ATTEMPT FLIGHT PLAN
August 1, 1979
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Timeline of Chauncey Dunn’s Ballooning Accomplishments and Awards
1969 - Chauncey bought his first balloon over the phone from Raven Industries
1970 - First solo flight was from Denver
1970 - Received FAA Balloon License
1970 - Started American Balloon Adventures Ltd. in Denver and was its president
1971 - Established a new FAI record for altitude for a hot air balloon of 33,400 feet in a flight from Longmont,
Colorado in a balloon called “Stratosaurus”
1971-79 - Participated in the U. S. National Hot Air Championships in Indianola, Iowa
1972 - Participated in World Hot Air Balloon Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico
1973 - First of Chauncey’s hand painted balloon designs “Dream of Flight” is built by The Balloon Works and
unveiled at the U. S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship in Indianola. Iowa
1974 - Was one of the prime supporters who organized the Colorado Balloon Club
1974 - He was recognized at the Reno Air Show for his high regard for balloon safety
1975 - President of Colorado Balloon Club
1975 - Attended the Inauguration of Chateau de Balleroy Balloon Museum in Normandy, France with Malcom
Forbes. His balloon “Dream of Flight” was flown there and now resides there
1976 - Became member of the Balloon Federation of America Board of Directors
1976 - First Snowmass Colorado Balloon Race founded with Aspen resident & pilot, Betty Pfister
1977 - Vice president of Balloon Federation of America
1977 - Founded the Rocky Mountain Gas Balloon Society
1977 - Flew gas balloon ”Toblerone” across the Alps in Switzerland with Ernst Krauer
1977-82 - Rocky Mountain Gas Balloon Society
1978 - Launched a gas balloon at the Colorado State Capitol. In the balloon with Chauncey
were Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo, Betty Pfister and Nikki Caplan
1978 - Became one of the first balloonists to cross the Continental Divide in a gas balloon
from Snowmass to Buena Vista along with Fred Hayes and Maxie Anderson
1978 - Treasurer of Balloon Federation of America
1979 - Participated in the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race in California, the first GB race since 1936
1979 - On August 1 this year Chauncey established a new world altitude record in an open gondola for a hot
air balloon of 53,206 feet at Indianola, Iowa. Name of the balloon was “Bear Cat”
1980 - Helped organize the first Steamboat Springs Balloon Rodeo
1980 - The Dunns returned to Chateau de Balleroy in France to celebrate it’s five year anniversary
1980 - Received the Montgolfier Diploma from FAI for his contributions to the sport of ballooning
1981 - Chauncey’s second hand painted balloon, “Carousel”, was built by Raven Industries
1986 - Chauncey’s third hand painted balloon, “Western Spirit”, was built by Aerostar
1988 - Chauncey’s fourth hand painted balloon, “Big Top”, was built by Aerostar
1994 - Last PIC flight in his log book occurred this year
He took many flights after that with pilot friends in their balloons. He said many times that he would
not fly after he turned 80, and that was in 2012. Actually, with his good judgment, he stopped before
then with his decision to decrease his pilot responsibility, but he never lost his love of flight.
2014 - Inducted into the U. S. National Ballooning Hall of Fame at the National Balloon Museum,
Indianola, Iowa
Chauncey's
“Big Top”
Gas Balloon Launch
in 1973 in Iowa
Chauncey Sailing
“Kelly’s Kloud”
given to Kelly
Chauncey’s
“Deux Charaux”
1977
We are grateful to the following sources for information and/or images included in this document: the Dunn family, National Balloon Museum Archives, Federal
Aeronautic Internationale, Who’s Who in Ballooning by Robert J. Rechs, 1983, and Ballooning: Journal of the Balloon Federation of America.
Captain Dunn of “Dunn’s River
Rats” on a river expedition down
the Grand Canyon 1972
