Hot Air Balloons

peachey · 13-11-2003, 15:53

has anybody ever been up in one of these

I was thinking of buying a ride in one by way of a christmas present to be used
in the springtime

any thoughts or ruminations on the said adventure?

paulyoung666 · 13-11-2003, 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachey

has anybody ever been up in one of these

I was thinking of buying a ride in one by way of a christmas present to be used
in the springtime

any thoughts or ruminations on the said adventure?

a close mate of mine has been in one and said it was totally amazing , the only problem he had was waiting for a day to take off , he was cancelled due to the weather , he reckoned it was well worth the money

peachey · 13-11-2003, 16:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

a close mate of mine has been in one and said it was totally amazing , the only problem he had was waiting for a day to take off , he was cancelled due to the weather , he reckoned it was well worth the money

do you know what sort of money you would be looking at?

paulyoung666 · 13-11-2003, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachey

do you know what sort of money you would be looking at?

i must admit i dont , i will try and ring him later and see if he can remember

i have just done a quick google and you are looking at least Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100 / person , not cheap but there you go

SMHarman · 13-11-2003, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachey

do you know what sort of money you would be looking at?

Have a look at red letter days or virgin balloons

aliferste · 16-11-2003, 20:34

You can get a ride in a microlight plane ......much more exiting

**Paul M** · 16-11-2003, 20:45

Me and my wife did this in the days before we were married - it's brilliant and I would advise anyone to do it.

An added bonus for us was that we flew over the house where we still live so I got some great ariel photos of it, I still have one on the wall today.

Jerrek · 17-11-2003, 06:51

Balloons are cool. I want to get my operator's license, but I don't have money yet. Rides here are about 60 pounds to 100 pounds. Definitely worth it.

Gliders and ultralights are worth it too, if you have the money. Heh.

SMHarman · 18-11-2003, 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerrek

Balloons are cool. I want to get my operator's license, but I don't have money yet. Rides here are about 60 pounds to 100 pounds. Definitely worth it.

Gliders and ultralights are worth it too, if you have the money. Heh.

How does that work? Is it similar to a PPL? Harder/Easier?

You have little control over your direction (once airborne). I assume it has some serious stuff on flight plans,weather management and avoiding controlled airspace, also radio skills but what else? Landing truely is a controlled crash!

Is there a 40 hrs min flying time to qualify? Do you need to keep hours up in the same manner. Are licences issued by the CAA (or US/Canadian equivilant).

I saw one being launched from my local common on Sunday and noticed it had a call sign on the side which got me thinking about such matters. Strange this thread then took such a direction.

peachey · 18-11-2003, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Have a look at red letter days or virgin balloons

cheers
will probably book one for the springtime

you can have champagne on board I noticed too

which I thought would be kind of kinky