The Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

[3][2] In November 1981, Newman flew the Double Eagle V in the first successful manned balloon crossing of the Pacific with Ben Abruzzo, Ron Clark and Rocky Aoki.

[4] They launched from Nagashima, Japan on November 10, 1981, and landed in Mendocino National Forest in California 84 hours and 31 minutes later, covering a record 5,768 miles (9,283 km).

[5] The four-man crew included fellow Albuquerque balloonists Ben Abruzzo & Ron Clark, and restaurateur Rocky Aoki, who partially funded the flight.

After crossing the Pacific the helium-filled Double Eagle V, weighed down by ice and buffeted by a storm, crash-landed in northern California, ending the nearly 6,000-mile flight.

From Tillamook, Oregon on 8 September 1990, a proof of concept flight was made by Dzhanibekov, Newman, Tim Lachenmeier, and Don Moses.