by Lynne Newton, Exhibitions Curator, Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum

The Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, the home of the FAI Ballooning Commission Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame, is delighted to announce that Richard Abruzzo of the United States and Hans Åkerstedt of Sweden are this year’s inductees. The 2025 FAI Ballooning Commission Hall of Fame inductees were announced in New Delhi, India, during the March 2025 plenary meeting.

The Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum hosts the induction ceremony each year, and this year’s event will take place on Friday 3 October 2025.

The FAI Ballooning Commission and the Balloon Museum extend their congratulations to the honorees and their families on being brought into this exclusive cadre of distinguished aeronauts.

Richard Abruzzo (1963 - 2010)

Richard Abruzzo was a true sportsman. An Academic All-American and a nationally ranked collegiate skier, Abruzzo's competitive edge and innate skills transferred seamlessly to ballooning. In 1992, Troy Bradley asked Abruzzo to be his co-pilot in the Chrysler Transatlantic Challenge. This was Abruzzo’s third gas balloon flight, and it took him from North America to Africa. The flight broke his father Ben Abruzzo’s endurance record and earned him an FAI De la Vaulx Medal in 1992 for an absolute world record. It was the beginning of a stellar round of ballooning feats in both gas and hot air ballooning.

Abruzzo set many world records for distance and duration and was a focused, skilled competitor. He won two Balloon FiestaⓇ key grab events, and in 1994, Abruzzo placed first in the National Gas Balloon Championship. Abruzzo was also awarded the FAI Montgolfier Diploma and is the only five-time winner of the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race to date.

Richard Abruzzo

The National Aeronautical Association awarded the prestigious Harmon Trophy to him three times: in 2001 for the longest solo flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Crawfordville, Georgia; in 2003 for the first solo gas balloon transcontinental flight from San Diego to the Georgia coast; and in 2005 for achieving a 1,802 km flight over Europe, winning the 48th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, the oldest aviation competition in the world. Abruzzo joined the Balloon Fiesta Board in 1996, chaired the Board of Trustees of the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, and is in the Balloon Fiesta Hall of Fame.

The Abruzzo family commented:

“We are truly moved to receive the news of our beloved Richard as an inductee to the 2025 FAI CIA International Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame. It’s hard to believe it will be 15 years since his passing. His passion for the sport and love of ballooning was on full display for us all to watch and enjoy. He competed at the highest levels, and to be honoured in this way by the ballooning committee warms our hearts. He is smiling down on all of us.”

 

Hans Åkerstedt (born 1942)

Hans Åkerstedt is a world specialist in aviation and ballooning history. His technical and historical knowledge is complemented by his solid aviation background as a balloonist, as pilot for the Swedish Air Force, and a Scandinavian Airlines captain. Åkerstedt has volunteered in various capacities for the FAI Ballooning Commission for more than forty years, holding several positions from Delegate to Subcommittee Chairman and Vice President.

For his service to the FAI and to ballooning in general, Åkerstedt has received numerous FAI Awards: the FAI Air Sport Medal (1992), the FAI Bronze Medal (2004), the Paul Tissandier Diploma, and the prestigious FAI Gold Air Medal (2015). He has given his name to the Åkerstedt formulas that he developed for the scoring and ranking of ballooning competitions and created and maintained the FAI List of Notable Performances and Achievements in Ballooning.

Åkerstedt is often involved in technical assessment and record ratification for which his opinion is highly regarded. He has contributed greatly to the ballooning sporting code and the jury handbook, as well as assisting the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in simplifying regulations making recreational aviation more accessible.

Furthermore, his activities also include competitions: he participated in the organisation of the first FAI European Ballooning Championship in Skövde, Sweden, in 1976 and the fourth World Hot Air Ballooning Championship in Sweden in 1979. He competed at the first World Hot Air Balloon Championship in 1973 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and seven times in the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, between 1984 and 2003.

Åkerstedt piloted the first hot air airship night flight in Hammlätt in 1976, built by the Scandinavian Lighter than Air Society he founded. 

Hans Åkerstedt

Then in 2024, the FAI Ballooning Commission established the Hans Åkerstedt Award, which recognises those with a minimum of twenty-five participations in the FAI Ballooning Commission’s plenary meetings. Åkerstedt received this award with two diamonds, each diamond representing an additional ten years.

When asked why he chose to get involved in the FAI Ballooning Commission, Åkerstedt stated:

“I was asked to be a CIA delegate in 1973 to work for better championship rules after the first FAI World Championship. I was reelected year after year for 23 years as CIA’s first vice president because I don’t hesitate to speak up when necessary. I am known for being critical when rules are not as they should be and need modifications.”

 

Header image from Gordon Bennett/FAI - Marcus King