Posted on 08/25/2007 10:03:52 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Are there any hobby class balloonists who fly helium-filled balloons, or is it too expensive or impractical?
funny Aussie movie
I’m OK if I feel secure. I don’t mind being near windows. When I went to the Grand Canyon, I could stand *near* the edge and be OK. But if what I’m on moves AT ALL, like a ladder or scaffolding, forget it!
I’m not so great on roof tops except when we used to have to shovel off our porch roof. It was only about a 6 foot drop into about a 6 foot pile of soft snow. I could live with that.
He is the one next to my flag balloon.
He comes to events for expenses only. The event needs to pay for his helium, room and board. I think he may get travel expenses too but I'm not sure.
He is a really nice guy. I'll try to find his web site again.
For him to set up, it takes several hours before he can take off.
We had one land right about 30 yeards behind the house 3 or 4 years ago...I know he did NOT want to end up here near the mountains (see the cockatiel pic on my page for a general idea). They prefer to go up and down and stay pretty close to where they left from, I assume; and we're better than 10 miles from Bermuda Dunes airport.
Actually, that is pretty uncommon. It may look like they didn't want to go there, but unless you talk directly to the pilot, you never know. It is more common for someone to call the fire dept and report a crash of a balloon because in their mind, any balloon that isn't landing at an airport is obviously crashing. ;-)
I have a friend that has about 50 trips over the Swiss Alps in a balloon. So, mountain flying does happen, you just need to be well equipped and aware of rotors.
Are there any hobby class balloonists who fly helium-filled balloons, or is it too expensive or impractical?
There were a couple of guys flying gas balloons here in New England. The helium cost was over a thousand dollars per flight (for a two person balloon), and the handling of the balloon was a lot trickier than a hot air balloon. As far as I could tell the gas balloon was a lot less maneuverable than a hot air balloon.
Has the FAA grounded hot air balloons this weekend? There is a local festival today that normally ends with a hot air balloon buck chase on a lake with the pilots and passenger trying to drop a ball into a floating inner tube. I just drove past the festival and not a hot air balloon in sight.
What is your weather like? If it is too windy, balloons won’t fly. Or, the direction could be wrong to get to the lake.
Ping!
Proof once again Columbus Ohio has a top notch library system. (They have EVERYTHING!)
The weather was ideal. A few high clouds and the wind was less than 3 mph. This is the 18th year of the festival and the first time they did not fly without severe weather in the area.
Ping.
Hmmmm.. Ok. My next question is where are you? Nothing specific, but just a general area.
2nd question. Does the festival have a static launch point or can it be a ‘fly in’?
3rd question. Have local pilots ticked off land owners in the area?
4th question. Did the President or Vice President come anywhere near the area today?
That shuts balloonists down rapidly.
2nd question. Does the festival have a static launch point or can it be a fly in? They can pick their launch points.
3rd question. Have local pilots ticked off land owners in the area? Not that I am aware of. The local FBO at the airport is one of the balloon pilots, so relations here are good.
4th question. Did the President or Vice President come anywhere near the area today? Nope.
“Have you ever dreamed of being carried into the sky by a giant bouquet of colorful toy balloons?”
Uh no. No I haven’t.
Seen this on the news this morn. It’s just awful :(
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.