Ballooning - What could possibly go wrong!

Hot air ballooning is considered to be a soft adventure activity. So having something go wrong that could be considered a safety issue whilst in flight is a very, very rare thing. So don’t worry yourself about that.

 But there is a lot more to balloon than being in the air. Ballooning is an activity that relies on the right sort of weather and access to the land. And it’s in these 2 environments that we occasionally have problems.

 Let’s tackle the problem about the weather first. The good news is that over the last 5 years forecasting has gotten so much better. I’m sure we have a clever algorithm to thank for that but it is still a just a forecast and subject to change at any minute. 

 So there are days when you don’t really know what going on until you are out in the field and close to take off time. Most of the time, we get it right but there are times wind, fog or rain may have us going home having not flown. Don’t let it get you down, if the weather is rubbish the flight often is as well.

 Many passengers turn up dressed in Sunday’s finest expecting the balloon to launch from a paved apron, similar to an airline. We like you looking good but  believe me, it’s no fun walking across a wet, muddy, bumpy farmers paddock in 4 inch heels so make sure you turn up in appropriate clothing and footwear. 

 Expect to get a little a bit grubby. We operate from farmers fields which are often wet & sometimes muddy and have sheep and cows grazing. And when livestock graze they ……  Another reason not to wear your best clothing.  

 It’s at the completion of a flight we can encounter our biggest problem. There is nothing more soul destroying that landing in a beautiful paddock and finding a locked gate between you and freedom. Of course it’s not the end of the World but it may take a little while for our ground crew to find the landowner.  It gives us plenty of time to a really good job of packing the balloon away.

 Everyone looks forward to Spring after suffering through the cold months of Winter. I personally see it as the best time of year to bog the balloon retrieve vehicle & trailer in the landing site. I lose sleep over this happening and do my very best to avoid it, but it still happens. Often you don’t know how wet the field is till you are on the ground and then it’s too late.

If this happens we have a couple of ways of removing the balloon from the field without bogging the 4x4. Each requires some assistance from you passengers and takes a little more time than usual. But it’s a lot better than having to dig a vehicle out and means we get back for breakfast asap.

 So there it is, the wrong stuff with ballooning. Mostly an inconvenience, none of it really bad and often when it happens we have a bit of a laugh as we sort it out. 

Now you know what to expect on a bad ballooning day. So if it happens to you just carry on enjoying yourself and consider it all part of the experience. You can’t say you weren’t warned.