free balloon

American  

noun

1. a balloon, often equipped to carry passengers, that drifts with air currents and whose ascent and descent are controlled by the release of ballast and buoyant gas.

---

Other Word Forms

• free ballooning
  noun

Example Sentences

Contacted by Scientific American, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the agency has comprehensive regulations for U.S. operators to safely carry out unpiloted free balloon flights.

From Scientific American • Feb. 23, 2023

McKinley; Professor Auguste Piccard & aide ballooning into the stratosphere ten miles above Switzerland; Professor Erich Regener sending a free balloon with an electroscope 17� miles above Stuttgart.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hardin, Mont. Altitude Sirs: Kindly inform me as to the maximum altitude obtained by any aviator whether in airplane or free balloon.

From Time Magazine Archive

So everybody who walks into Scott's office says, 'How about free balloon rides at five grand?

From Time Magazine Archive

A free balloon is completely at the mercy of the wind, and simply drifts where the wind takes it.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various