Wyoming Meteorologist Partners with YouTuber MrBeast for High-Flying Balloon Stunt
When YouTube sensation MrBeast needed expert guidance to lift a mock T-Mobile store into the sky with 550 helium balloons, he turned to Wyoming meteorologist Don Day, a renowned expert in balloon weather, Cowboy State Daily reports.
With more than 330 million subscribers, MrBeast is no stranger to elaborate projects, and this one, inspired by Pixar’s Up, required precision planning and near-perfect weather conditions.
The ambitious stunt took place in Greenville, North Carolina, and required a week of careful preparation. Don Day’s role was crucial in determining the ideal weather window to ensure the balloons could safely lift the store and maintain stability in the air.
“My job was to find the weather… You need calm winds for over 12 hours, which is not easy. That’s why projects like this don’t usually happen in windy Wyoming,” Day explained.
The task was complicated by MrBeast’s tight schedule and the need for extensive setup time. The 15-second video involved 50 people, 10 hours of work, and 2,000 cubic meters of helium.
The T-Mobile store wasn’t a real building but a custom-made structure attached to a “cluster balloon load ring,” designed to evenly distribute the stress of the lift. Day emphasized the engineering challenges involved.
“You can’t just attach these balloons to a two-by-four… It’s a significant process requiring custom-made lines to handle the stress,” Day said.
Once the structure was airborne, MrBeast joined the spectacle, shouting, “I’ve still got service up here!” from the sky.
The logistics for the stunt were managed by Johnathan Trappe, a renowned cluster balloonist known for crossing the English Channel and attempting to traverse the Atlantic Ocean using balloons. Day and Trappe have collaborated on numerous projects, including a Disney-sponsored balloon flight for the Up movie in 2009.
Day’s expertise in “balloon weather” has also taken him to international events, such as the Gordon Bennett gas balloon race in Europe, where he provided real-time weather updates to pilots.
Day’s unique career niche has made him a go-to expert for ballooning stunts. In 2020, he collaborated with magician David Blaine on a YouTube project where Blaine flew to 25,000 feet over Arizona using cluster balloons.
“These projects can be tricky and require a lot of resources… But when done correctly and safely, they’re incredibly rewarding,” Day said.
