The first piloted balloon sculpture flew over Lake Ontario on July 19, 2003. Larry Moss lead a team of world-class balloon artists in building the largest non-round balloon sculpture ever, with a total 18,000-20,000 balloons. Balloon pilot John Ninomiya came from California to fly the sculpture.

I was honored to be a member of this record-setting team. I hope that you enjoy my album of pictures from this historic event.

• Todd’s album of photos from the event.

• Official Flying Octopus site.

• Order the documentary.

Note that the non-round sculpture with the most balloons was built by a similar team in June 2000.