Hot Air Ballooning
May 2007
On 5 May 2007 (Cinco De Mayo), Lisa and I went hot air ballooning. We did a little online research and chose Monticello Country Ballooning. This link is to the FAQ page which tells a lot of info about ballooning. If anyone in the area is thinking of going for a balloon ride, we really enjoyed ourselves. Mandy is the pilot and is pretty entertaining.
One thing we learned about ballooning is they go at sunrise or sunset to avoid the sun which can wreak havoc on the winds. In fact, many of the sunset flights get canceled due to winds. We chose morning to cover the odds. That means we had to be at the Boar's Head Inn at 6:00 am (damn that's early!). Since Charlottesville is over two hours from us, that made for a horribly early morning (starting at 3:00 am).
All week long, the weather looked to be fantastic. We took advantage and made plans for the whole weekend (Happy Hour Friday, Hot Air Ballooning Saturday, and Bay Bridge Walk on Sunday). Come Friday night, the weekend weather took a turn for the worse. Rain and wind found itself on the forecast. Luckily, the balloon ride transpired, but the Bay Bridge Walk was canceled. As it turned out, our weather was pretty good for the balloon ride.
We asked some friends to join us, so the four of us met at the Boar's Head Inn. The wicker basket is small, so the four of us and Mandy the pilot was a fairly full ride. The flight lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes, depending on conditions. As we learned, balloons cannot steer and are totally dependent on the wind. The way they get where they want to go is by changing altitudes to find different winds going in the desired directions. Where you land depends on where the wind takes you. The air temperature and humidity affects how much gas you burn to keep the balloon afloat. The colder the air, the less gas you need, the longer you can stay airborne.
While the flight itself is only an hour, the whole experience is about three hours. They start you off by helping inflate the balloon.
That's Brad on the right helping inflate the balloon. Heat is not needed at this point. The only thing inflating this huge balloon is a fan. That surprised me as I thought you needed heat right from the get-go.
To give you some idea of size, that's Mandy at the far end of this inflating balloon.
Lisa by our balloon
Lisa and Brad by all four inflating balloons
Mandy was the first to apply heat. I was surprised by how fast the balloon shoots up once heat is applied.
Other balloons getting prepared. Notice the big balloon sporting the name of the Boar's Head Inn where we used their field to take off.
Lisa with Mandy's balloon inflated and ready to go. You'll notice many of these early photos are a bit dark. Keep in mind that it still only about 6:30 a.m. and a bit overcast.
Balloon cranking up the heat
The fourth balloon is almost inflated. Mandy told us balloons come in different sizes. Ours held five people comfortably. You can get much bigger balloons for more people. I was actually glad we were in a smaller one. It was more friendly and it was fun to go with friends.
Brad and Lisa ready to go
