Those lucky enough to have tried hot air ballooning credit it with being one of the most memorable experiences of their lives.
Gliding above the tree tops and houses allows a feeling of flying not achievable to mankind via any other vessel. The magic is heightened by the silence of the situation; the balloon simply glides without sound until the propane fires are required to burn.
The beauty of hot air ballooning, and the course a balloon must take in its journey, is decided largely by nature. Generally, a pilot will choose a clear dawn, or a couple of hours before sunset, to fly due to the typically light winds which permit easier landing and launching of the balloon. These cooler hours also allow the balloon to avoid thermals (vertical air currents caused by heated ground that making balloon control more difficult).
During a hot air balloon ride, the only way to steer the balloon is to cause it to climb and descend into wind currents travelling different directions, and therefore the balloon's track through the sky depends on the pilot being able to determine wind directions at all levels.
Wind directions above the balloon are ascertained by a weather forecast before the flight, as well as a pilot helium-filled balloon, called a met-balloon, set up by the pilot. Directions below are generally discovered during the journey through visual clues; perhaps there will be smoke from chimneys or flags on poles indicating wind direction, or the pilot may even spill liquid from the basket and simply observe the course of its descent.
While direction of a hot air balloon is for the pilot and the wind to harmonise, altitude is controlled by the temperature change inside the envelope of the balloon itself. Increased lift is achieved through the opening of burner blasts vales which increase air temperature, and descent requires the opening of a vent to allow hot air to escape.
As simple as this sounds, much skill is involved as there is often a 30 second, or longer, delay between burners being lit to the halt of the balloon's descent.
In the UK, commercial balloons generally fly at an altitude of between 500 and 2,500 feet, depending on conditions, but hot air balloons can in fact fly at much, much higher altitudes. The current world record for balloon altitude is 21,290 meters (or 69,852 feet), set by Indian textile tycoon Vijaypat Singhania in November 2005.
Singhania set off from Mumbai and landed 150 miles south in Panchale in a pressurised cabin secured to the balloon to allow survival at such high altitude. Oxygen is required for all crew of any aircraft, balloon or otherwise, that reaches or rises above an altitude of 12,500 feet.
Author Resource:-
Dom Donaldson is a sporting expert. Find out more about Hot Air Ballooning at http://www.experiencemad.co.uk/Hot-Air-Balloon-Rides
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