Ballooning

Typical Hot Air Balloon Flight Information and what you can expect.

Hot Air Balloon trips happen at two times of the day, very early in the morning or the two – three hours before sunset in the evening as this is when the weather is safest to fly. The wind is the most important factor in a Hot Air Balloon trip and you have to expect disappointment as the wind speed can change very rapidly.

Due to high winds and other conditions some hot air balloon trips are cancelled you just have to be patient if it happens then great but it can go wrong. There is nothing quite like a ride in a hot air balloon and the wait is well worth it.

The Pre – Flight setting up of the balloon is something can get involved in as there are always volunteers required to unroll the envelope and general help out with equipment. The inflation of a Hot Air balloon is a spectacular sight.

The envelope is laid out flat and stretched this is where the volunteers come in handy. The envelope is stretched out as far as possible over the land. The pilot uses an inflator fan this is a cool fan for just getting air into the balloon. When semi inflated by the fan the basket and burners are attached to the balloon.

The Hot Air balloon is around half inflated when the burners are lit up and the rest of the envelope is filled up in no time as the air inside starts to expand under heat.  Once the envelope is full you will see the Hot Air Balloon start to go from horizontal to vertical this is the tricky bit. The Hot Air Balloon is constantly tethered to the ground during this process.

The passengers or victims depend on how you see it is allowed into the basket to balance the weight in the balloon. The balloon starts to feel weightless as the burner heats up more air inside the envelope. Once you feel the balance shift to weightlessness then the ropes are unsecured and you start to drift slowly into the skies.

A Hot Air Balloon ride lasts around a hour and on a good day you can see for absolute miles and this is fantastic view of the landscape however you consider what goes up must come down and that too can be very tricky. Coming to land is usually bumpy and that’s on a good day depending on how good your pilot is and conditions.

A good pilot will try to land at 45 degrees angle to the floor coming in as gently as possible the basket will land and roll on its side so hold on tight and make sure that no one falls out. There are plenty of hand rails to hold onto and eventually the basket is lying on its side with the passengers horizontal too.

The pilot pulls the chord that allows the envelope to deflate once everyone is back upright and feeling a little better the balloon is packed up and folded away again the volunteers come in handy for this as well.

It is always funny to see who is the most grateful for being back on the ground as once the ride starts there is no going back. Most Hot air balloon rides finish with a glass of champagne and that brings people back to being normal after a very uplifting experience.