Timothy Eiloart, born 1936
transatlantic balloonist & entrepreneur

Tim Eiloart's early life was devoted to sailing rather than study, but when his father threatened to remove him from Westminster school and apprentice him to a boat builder, he started to work hard, and came first of 700 candidates for a Ministry of Supply engineering scholarship. In 1955, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, to read chemical engineering. In 1958 he joined his father and two friends as their meteorologist and radio operator in an attempt to make the first Atlantic crossing by balloon. After months of planning, a ferocious storm forced them to ditch their balloon, the Small World, after 94½ hours aloft and sail their gondola to Barbados. Their gas ballooning record still stands. Tim returned to Cambridge to complete his degree, and during his final year undertook a project to appraise a paper mill. This gave him the idea for the technology consultancy Cambridge Consultants Limited, founded with his share of the money from the Daily Mail for the Small World exclusive. Cambridge Consultants flourished and became one of the most significant technology companies in Cambridge.

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