Hot air ballooning is an exciting sport for the pilots, crews and spectators. Many, new to ballooning, may have questions about this thrilling sport.
What is a balloon race?
What is a Balloon Glow?
How big are hot air balloons?
What instruments are used to fly a Hot Air Balloon?
What are the best conditions for balloon flights?
Why don't balloons fly during midday?
How is a balloon launched?
How is a balloon guided?
How does a pilot land a balloon?
Who flew the first hot air balloon?
What makes up a balloon team or crew?
What are hot air balloon made out of?
What does it take to become a licensed balloon pilot?
What about bad weather conditions?
Ballooning Jargon
Balloon racing stands today as a sport and a very serious race.
Pilots are scored on their accuracy as
they fly from launch point to one or two targets. As they pass over the
target they toss markers as close to the center as possible.
The
Balloon Glow is a spectator's delight. A Balloon Glow is the art of
firing a hot air balloon's burner to illuminate the balloon while the
balloon itself is tethered. It is a breathtaking sight and a
photographer's delight.
The Friday night RRBR Glow in the Rocks also features Native American dances by bonfire.
Hot air balloons vary in size from 14,000 cubic feet - with at payload of one person - to 500,000 cubit feet - enough to carry 32 people. These balloon range in height from five stories to 16 stories, and they can weigh from 300 to 600 pounds.
What instruments are used to fly a Hot Air Balloon?
The licensed pilot will use an altimeter, a rate-of-climb indicator, a thermometer for inside the envelope, a compass and a map. Also, a radio is on board to contact the ground crew and other aircraft, as well as the local airport control tower if necessary.
What are the best conditions for balloon flights?
Balloons fly best in cool weather with wind speeds less than seven knots. The best time for flights are up to three hours after sunrise and up to three hours before sunset.
Why don't balloons fly during midday?
Thermals, created when direct sunlight heats the ground causes the heat to rise quickly. During this condition, it creates tremendous turbulence, and is very dangerous. During "thermals" the balloonist cannot control the balloon.
The
envelope of the balloon is laid out downwind and flat on the ground.
Air is blown into the balloon with a gas-powered fan. In 15 minutes,
the balloon is inflated to the size of a small house. The burner is
used to heat the temperature inside, causing it to rise. The flight
burner is ignited when the balloon begins to reach full inflation.
Made of stainless steel, the burner uses
propane to produce 21 billion BTUs per hour. It is mounted atop the
gondola and used to heat the air inside to a temperature higher than
the outside, causing the envelope to rise.
As the balloon inflates and its
underside begins to leave the ground, the pilot, handling the burners
puts one leg inside the basket. The crew members let go of their
control lines and the envelopes rises, tilting the basked upright with
the pilot inside. The balloon now stands approximately 70 feet high and
55 feet wide. Still it is not sufficiently buoyant to lift the basket
so passengers are able to climb aboard.
Ready to lift off, the pilot opens the
burner valve and gradually builds enough buoyancy for the flight to
begin.
With the wind determining the direction of flight, the pilot uses different air currents at different altitudes to maneuver the balloon. Balloon speed is determined by the wind speed at different locations.
How does a pilot land a balloon?
The
pilot controls the balloon's descent by opening small vents near the
top of the balloon and occasionally giving the burner a blast to keep
the descent slow and gradual. As the air inside the envelop cools, the
balloon descends.
The pilot may drop a safety line for
crew members to slow down the lateral movement of the balloon and
"walk" it to a safe landing area. Upon landing the balloon is deflated
by pulling a valve line which opens the parachute valve atop the
balloon. The hot air escapes rapidly.
Who flew the first hot air balloon?
The
first hot air balloon was designed and launched in 1783 by two French
paper makers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. Observing how pieces of
paper went up a chimney when there was a fire in the hearth, they
decided to fill a small silk bag with smoke and watched it float to the
ceiling. They thought that the smoke rather than the heat caused the
lift.
They then tested various paper and
fabrics and upon the royal command of Louis XVI, the first flight took
place in Paris. The passengers for that first flight were a duck, a
rooster and a sheep. It rose to 1,500 feet and flew eight miles.
On June 21, 1783, Pilatre deRozier and
the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first truly manned flight. It is
estimated that the entire population of Paris (400,000) turned out to
watch this balloon. The balloon flew 25 minutes and went up to 3,000
feet.
What makes up a balloon team or crew?
Behind
every balloon pilot in the RRBR stands a good balloon crew. Ballooning
is a team sport and every pilot needs the help of four to six
well-trained crew members in the launch and landing of his balloon.
Some special shape balloons need up to 15 on their crew.
Before inflation and launch each crew member is assigned a job by the pilot or crew chief.
One person operates the fan and two
others work the " throat." One or two are at the "crown," maintaining a
constant pull on the line to control the speed of the envelope as it
rises. An efficient crew can inflate a balloon in less than 10 minutes.
After lift-off, the launch crew becomes
the recovery crew. Because the craft lacks directional control, the
crew must follow the craft in the direction the wind takes it. The crew
attempts to stay as close as roads permit to anticipate the pilot's
landing site. When a site is selected, one person asks permission to go
on the landowners property. Crew members are also responsible for crowd
control.
Crew members may use a rope dropped by
the pilot to "walk" the balloon to an area where a safe landing can
take place. During deflation, crew members "milk" the balloon,
squeezing out air through the vent on the top. Then the envelope and
all other parts of the balloon are packed away in the recovery vehicle.
What are hot air balloon made out of?
Balloons
are a lot tougher than they look. The envelope is made of reinforced
nylon fabric called rip-stop nylon or Dacron. This very light --but
strong-- fabric is used because it retains its strength so tears will
not "run."
Balloons can range in price from $15,000
and up. It depends on the shape, size and equipment. The more artwork
on a balloon, the higher the cost. Add to that the cost of an inflator
fan, a trailer or vehicle to carry the balloon in, lessons, insurance,
FAA inspections, etc. and the costs can quickly skyrocket!
What does it take to become a licensed balloon pilot?
A licensed pilot has completed ground school and flight training with a certified hot air commercial pilot. This process consists of:
• Passing a Federal Aviation written examination;
• Obtaining the regulated hours of flight time with at least two solo hours
• Passing a flight test with a FAA examiner and furnishing a medical statement of health.
What about bad weather conditions?
The
weather conditions are one of the things over which there is no control
and which can affect one or more scheduled event . There are many
different events that make up the RRBR including balloon races in the
morning, balloon glows in the evening, special exhibits and
performances, children's activities, and vendors.
No event is ever cancelled based on a
weather forecast. Forecasts cover a vastly wider area than the location
of the RRBR.
If an event is cancelled, it may be due
to one or more FAA regulation, lack of clearance from the airport
tower, conditions deemed unsafe for the pilots and/or the spectators by
the Balloonmeister. Most often, when a balloon event must be cancelled,
the other attractions and scheduled events are not affected.
To listen to a balloonist speak it may seem that they have their own dictionaries. After all, ballooning has a very specialized vocabulary that includes such terms as:
• Apex - The top center point of the balloon envelope, this feature is also known as the crown.
• Blast valve - A flight burner control that sends full tank pressure through the burner system and gives the balloon instant hot air.
• Burner - A device for mixing propane with air to produce a hot flame. It is the primary heat source in hot air balloons. Burners are normally made of a metal tube coiled around a venturi at the mouth of which is placed a jet or nozzle. The burner has two basic controls - a regulator, which controls the pilot light and a blast valve.
• Ceiling - The height above ground at which cloud cover begins and visibility ends.
• Loadtapes - Special load bearing tapes which are sewn over the seams of the balloon and run from the apex to the mouth where they connect with the suspension cables. The tapes help distribute the load evenly over the surface of the balloon.
• Maneuvering vent - A self sealing aperture that permits the discrete outlet of hot air to check an ascent or to initiate a descent. It is controlled by a line to the basket.
• Suspension cables - Flexible heat-resisting cables which are usually composed of stainless steel or Kevlar. These cables suspend the basket beneath the envelope and connect with the loadtapes.
• Telltale - Special pieces of heat sensitive material placed inside the top of a hot air balloon to monitor the balloon's temperature. Excessive heat can cause damage to the envelope material.
• Thermistor - An instrument used to measure the temperature of the hot air in the upper section of a hot air balloon. There is usually a "redline" temperature that must not be exceeded. Normally this "redline" temperature is 250-300 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Variometer - A sensitive vertical speed indicator that measures the relative up-and-down movement of the balloon in the air.