A person who pilots or operates a hot air balloon, or someone skilled and professional in balloon flight.
From 'balloon' plus the suffix '-ist' (from Greek '-istes'), denoting a person who practices or specializes in an activity or ideology.
The first balloonists were celebrities—when Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier made the first untethered flight in 1783, crowds of thousands gathered, and he became an instant international star.
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