Ballooning

You don't steer a balloon. That doesn't mean you have no control over where you're going - advanced knowledge of the likely winds and the ability to read air patterns means a balloon pilot can place their craft pretty accurately in the path of winds going the way they want. Other than rising or falling, however, that's the limit of the control. For some that sounds like a limitation. For others it is the ultimate liberation and the reason why ballooning makes more sense now than at any time in its long history.

Tethered balloons sometimes pop up at fairs and air shows, allowing the opportunity to grab a quick ride into the sky to gawp at the view, or to leap out and trust your life to a parachute or bungee rope. For most of us, however, the first real trip is likely to be a half-day flight over the countryside. The bad news is that there are no lie-ins for balloonists and your trip is likely to start early in the morning. That's because the wind is at its calmest with the sun low in the sky. As the sun gets higher its effects are stronger (think about the danger hours for sunburn) and that means it heats up areas of the ground more. Hot patches of ground heat the air above them, which becomes less dense and rises causing cold air to rush in to fill the gap; there you get breezes and winds. Good news for gliders, bad news for balloons.

Arriving at the balloon launch site you will probably find the balloon itself laid out like a huge squid with the basket at one end and the envelope (the balloon bit) being stretched out prior to filling. With a good ground crew it only takes fifteen to twenty minutes to launch a balloon, including the time it takes to fill the envelope with hot air, usually done by burning propane gas from cylinders in the basket. After that the balloon rises and, apart from the occasional whooshing noise of the propane burners when the pilot wants to rise higher, the rest of the ride is in spectacular silence. If you look below you there will be a chase car somewhere on the ground which is following you. When the balloon lands after a hard day's bobbing around it will be packed back into the car, which also provides transport back to where you started.

Because of the effect of having the sun high in the sky balloons usually land and remain grounded around the middle of day so while ballooning is bad for your breakfast, it does lend itself to some seriously splendid lunching. It is possible for balloons to fly at night, but night flights are sadly rare due to the problems of visibility and the need for pilots to rely on instruments and lights (which most balloons don't carry anyway).

Balloons aren't the only things that go to ground during the heat of midday and that's just one of the reasons why balloon safaris have become hugely popular. Starting in the cool early morning, the balloon lifts off and flies low over the landscape, its round shape, slow movement, and total silence combining to make it unthreatening to animals on the ground. As things heat up the balloon comes to ground. A chase car has usually beaten you to it and there'll be collapsing tables and chairs ready for a major blowout of your own.


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