If you’re not a little on the nosy side, then don’t go in for journalism. That’s what I say anyway. Because whether other scribblers will admit it or not a good old nose around is bound to help the piece you are preparing – be it book, article or review. Thus it was that when the amiable and affable balloonist Brian Jones left his living room for a short while I had the chance to study his choice of books, always a great insight into the tastes and interests of the person you are interviewing. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon The Times Book of Flying Blunders. Needless to say there is no mention of Jones’s name in this book. Au contraire – for together with his Swiss colleague Bertrand Piccard the two men recently pulled off one of the most daring feats in aviation history – the first circumnavigation of the earth in a hot air balloon.

For Jules Verne’s beloved character Phileas Fogg, the challenge began as a bet – to go around the world in 80 days, "like no man has ever done before." But for Jones and Piccard no wager was needed. On March 1, 1999, just outside the Swiss village of Château-d’Oex, the daring aviators stepped into the capsule of the Breitling Orbiter 3, a specially constructed 55-meter-tall balloon to begin their epic journey. 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes later they landed in Egypt near the Great Pyramids of Giza in what has now been acclaimed as the greatest ever triumph of ballooning. Surprisingly for both men, however, their journey turned out to have a lot more to do with philosophy than science. In other words the trip was to have a profound impact upon both of their lives. And, as we shall see, upon the lives of others.

"I was only introduced to ballooning in 1986", Jones reveals. "But I did learn to fly a glider when I was just 16. I went solo just one year later - it was just amazing – a feeling of disbelief that you were trusted to be up there on your own. That was when I found that I had an affinity with anything that was in the air. I just adored flying. I was hopeless at a number of other sports - climbing, swimming and so on – but I did have this feeling that I might one day be quite useful in the air. I thought that here, at last, was something in which I could excel."

And excel he did. While his contemporaries were agonising over which career path they ought to follow, Jones had already signed on the dotted line with the Royal Air Force – and before you could say Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier (which, admittedly, takes a little longer to say than good old Jack Robinson) – he was a Hercules and VC10 loadmaster – and a qualified helicopter pilot too. There then followed a period flying cargo based in Luxembourg although, not surprisingly, Jones says that this lacked the glamour and excitement of the RAF.

"But I then decided that I would really rather be my own boss – and set off to set up a business of my own."

"Something in the field of aviation?", I presume? I detect a tiny glint in the eye of my interviewee, indicating that I might well have been blown off course myself.

"Not exactly, no. I began selling cups and saucers to hotels and pubs."

"Oh, I see." Although no degree in psychology was called for to see that that I did not see at all.

"To begin with I loved being my own boss – and I had this reverse snobbery of relishing going to work in a pair of jeans. But then we were hit hard by the 1989 recession. My sister was in the business with me – and the truth was that it couldn’t support two salaries. Having been introduced to ballooning in the mid-eighties I became a ballooning examiner by 1990 – and clearly my flying background enabled me to move swiftly up the ranks you might say. The timing also happened to be fortuitous in that it was around this time that the Civil Aviation Authority began to issue commercial licences for balloon pilots. There was an explosion of activity in ballooning. As both an instructor and an examiner I was well placed to take advantage of this new activity. So I said to my sister that she should man the crockery front, so to speak, whilst I went out to earn some money ballooning. As you can imagine the thought of then going back to selling cups and saucers was simply a non-starter!"

He’s a modest chap is that Mr. Jones. For if you listen to him long enough he will have you believe that it was all a question of being in the right place in the right time – and talks down the fact that he was the chief balloon flying instructor in the United Kingdom for 6 years. It also happened to be around this time that it became technically possible – thanks to the advent of GPS (Global Position Satellite) – to circumnavigate the world. Richard Branson – that loveable mother of all self-publicists – immediately threw his hat into the ring, as did a number of others.

"Not that any lights went on with me, mind you, although I did come to be involved in the first two Breitling attempts. Then I was asked to manage the Breitling Orbiter 3 project which I was delighted to do. Bertrand Piccard wanted the crew to change from 3 to 2. I said that if you do then you have to have a reserve pilot. To which they replied ‘yes, but where are we going to find a reserve pilot that we can train up at this late stage?’ I said ‘well, you are looking at one for goodness sake!’ Maybe I am not very good at blowing my own trumpet – because they said to me ‘oh, we had never thought of that before.’

And then the reserve was called up.

"The feeling was a mixture of fear and excitement. I was nervous. It was the ultimate test. I had been responsible for building the balloon, putting the team together - and of making sure that each and every aspect of its design was okay. It was as if someone up there was saying ‘okay, Brian, now put your money where your mouth is and fly it’!"

"You must be a very brave man then," I venture to suggest somewhat sycophantically.

"I don’t think so, not really. It was more a question of risk assessment. I don’t think I am braver than the man next door. In my book its braver to help a passer by whose car might blow up. In such circumstances you have no risk assessment – whereas we were working within our domain. Remember that ballooning was my passion and a flight around the world was the ultimate adventure. So you don’t have to be particularly brave to want to realise your dream. That said I knew I might be putting my life on the line as others had done before me – especially when attempting to cross the Pacific and the Tibetan plateau. But in any other area of the world you stood a reasonable chance of coming home. I’ll tell you the truth as to exactly how I felt: I was scared to death – but couldn’t wait to have a go!"

Life in the capsule was not exactly Club Med. Jones and Piccard took turns sleeping in one bunk, using the other for storage. The cabin, pressurised to fly as high at 40,000 feet, had an air recycling system that added oxygen and removed excess carbon dioxide with lithium hydroxide filters. Using the fuel controls, the pilots could operate the burners, switch tanks, and jettison empty tanks from inside. Keels gave the capsule a flat base and would aid flotation in case of a water landing. Solar panels recharged batteries under the cockpit floor, powering equipment, lights and a little in the kitchen. No prizes, though, for guessing who made the meanest cup of tea. Jones and Piccard decided from the outset that there would be no formally allocated tasks –everything was to be done by agreement. Piccard, long-accustomed to dealing with a sometimes sceptical press, had by now mastered the art of the sound bite – and had come up with the memorable phrase that the two men ‘had set off as friends but returned as brothers’.

"It might have sounded like a piece of PR hype", Jones admits, "but in fact it was perfectly true. When Bertrand said this at the press conference after the flight – his own rhetoric brought the two of us to tears!"

As their remarkable flight continued, however, it soon became clear that it was not just the Piccard-Jones relationship that was changing – but so too was their relationship with the world some 15,000 feet below. The Breitling Orbiter 3 Log entry of 20^th March, written over Mali, hints at the changes in the air.

"It is hard to understand why we, up here, have been so lucky. Over these last three weeks as we have been flying in the world of our capsule, there hasn’t been any let up in the sorrows of many of the inhabitants of this planet, which we have nevertheless observed with so much wonder. We can surely do something to alleviate that suffering a little, and it is to this use that we shall put the fame we are doubtless heading for."

As Jones sets out to develop this theme of wanting to give something back to the wider community, he seems to me to be speaking with even more passion than about his historic flight. He is committed, energised, his tone that of a man ready and prepared to do battle with an unjust world. He explains that the objective had never been to ‘conquer’ the world by flying around it – rather to establish a friendlier relationship with the planet – and harmonise with nature simply through following the rhythm of the wind.

"All of these ideas started over Africa", Jones confirms. "It was stunningly beautiful. Bertrand is much better at expressing all of this stuff that I am. But I do remember having the simple thought that it was awful sitting in the capsule in such privileged conditions. There we were surrounded by technology and feeling at one with the planet and so on – and then looking down and knowing that if we could see a little further there were people dying of starvation and most of the adults trying to kill one another. The beauty of what it is down there – and the horrors of what humans are doing in the same place. God, it just didn’t make any sense."

But instead of resting with such shoulder-shrugging thoughts the two aviators decided that action speaks louder than words. And they concluded, to their eternal credit, to use the one million dollar prize money put up by Budweiser to create a Foundation, aptly named the Winds of Hope* - and designed primarily designed to benefit small children. The objective was not to take on something largely forgotten or unknown. They wasted little time in selecting their cause: noma.

From the Greek word ‘nomein’ (to devour) noma is a form of gangrene which develops in the mouth and quickly spreads to other parts of the face. At the same time it destroys both the soft and hard tissue of the mouth and face. It is encountered in conditions of extreme poverty, of lack of hygiene and malnutrition – and its victims are almost always children. It might well be a little known disease, but it is today endemic in many African countries, particularly amongst some of the populations of the Sahel region.

"But if you catch it early enough", Jones thunders, "with antiseptic mouthwash then it stops completely. These mouthwashes are given away in most hotels in the western world. Given away! It’s an affront to humanity. How can this happen in the 21^st century?"

In common many of those who have flown into space Jones and Piccard changed during the course of their epic voyage. But unlike Neil Armstrong who confessed that when he stepped on the moon he was happy to be so far away from the earth, our dynamic duo were delighted to put their footprints back on Earth.

"I loved the whole experience", Jones concludes. It was one really happy story – every aspect about it was positive. Now I spend a considerable part of my time travelling to Africa to monitor the work of our Foundation. Or I might have to cross the Atlantic to pick up an award in New York. Then its back to Somerset where I am just as much at ease popping down to my local pub to have a pint. All things considered I think I have a charmed life."

I am just putting away my tape-recorder and due to head back home. When another book from Brian Jones’s collection catches my eye. It is entitled ‘Who Dares Wins’ – the well-known slogan of Britain’s SAS. Brian Jones dared. And Brian Jones won. But the wonderful thing is that through his experiences countless others may well be on their way to winning too.

*www.windsofhope.org