So, the wife has mentioned that she would like to go in a hot air balloon everyday for the past few weeks, obviously trying to drop a hint about a possible Christmas present…..
Having looked into it, they have morning or evening flights, what would be best?
I have been thinking that a morning slot would be better but would appreciate others who have done one’s opinion.
Is an evening flight more “romantic” and hence more brownie points?

Done both ends of the day, nice no matter which to be honest.
What part of the country are you looking to fly?

Sparkyspice will be song shortly, he’s a fine pilot!

I’d say morning is better in the winter, evening in the summer. Nice either way. You’ll be at the mercy of the weather and they may need to cancel. Morning flight will be a pretty early start.

@TheDTs..we are in Worcestershire so Worcester racecourse is the nearest ‘fly over’ as they put it on their website.

Just get her a copy of Enduring Love by Ian McEwan and save yourself a few quid.

From my experience as the lucky recipient of a balloon trip gift, you will probably be treated to several false alarms until the weather conditions come good and the actual flight might happen quite a long time after the birthday.

(Don’t ask me about my feckless pilot who overloaded the basket, ran out of fuel over Blackburn and crash-landed into a patch of waste ground behind a mosque, where we were mobbed by about 500 baying Pakistanis running around like headless chickens at the excitement of it all.)

I did a morning flight and it was superb. As above, I got the voucher for my 50th birthday and I thnk I was nearly 52 before I got to fly.

This may sound ungrateful but we were given a balloon flight for my 50th. After many false starts which meant taking time off work to get to the launch site only to be told they couldnt fly, we eventually did get our flight but not over the city as we had planned but over some very uninteresting farmland.The landing was in a cowpat infested field where we were then asked to pack up the balloon thereby getting covered in cow poo so the meal we had planned after was a no no. Can see the funny side of it all now, but its worth knowing about the pitfalls 🙂

I was shocked to hear Home Secretary Amber Rudd say that Britain’s prison population has been ballooning for the past ten years. My God, has the world gone mad? Those people are there to be punished, not to be given ‘thrill of a lifetime’ experiences that most law abiding citizens can only dream of.

Mrs Close, Headingley

N I’ve been flying balloons for 19 years, so feel qualified to chip in. Yes, you will more than likely get cancelled. Ballooning is weather dependant and any more than 10kts of wind is too much (12mph). Poor visibility, low cloud and rain are also reasons for cancellations / postponements. If taking time off work is an issue (bearing in mind you may get cancelled), saving £20 by getting a midweek morning voucher, rather than an an evening / weekend / anytime voucher is a false economy. Note that the evening flights generally meet two hours before sunset, so in the middle of the summer that may be as late as 19:00, so may be appropriate depending on your work hours.

O Regarding flying in the morning or the evening – it’s personal choice. I like morning flights. If you don’t like the sound of an alarm and feel the need to spend an hour putting make-up on, perhaps a 05:30 meeting time will not be for you. Bear in mind also that the pilot may change the launch site at the last minute (see below) so be prepared perhaps for an even earlier start!

T Fly with an independent company. You can make your own mind up but check out anyone on Trip Advisor. Large companies customer service (call centre) get poor reviews and you’re more likely to get better service from a family run independent company. Pilots that work for a large company may only get paid if they fly. Therefore they are more likely to call a flight ‘ON’ if there’s a chance of going. If the weather isn’t suitable then you may get cancelled ‘in the field’ which means not only have you taken the day off work (but rather than being cancelled by phone the night before), you’ve driven to the launch site only to be sent home again. It’s unfortunate but it happens sometimes. However the lure of sneaking a flight in (and being paid) will be more of a lure to the pilot than annoying 16 passengers. After all it’s the goons in the call centre that have to take the flak. For me, as an independent, you’ll only speak to my wife in the office and if she/we get grief or poor feedback, we take it to heart. The lure of cash may also mean that the pilot may fly in conditions where others might cancel…

V Independents (especially those owner/operators) have generally been flying there for a long period of time. I am able to point out local landmarks, historical features, describe the vista to the passengers and hopefully answer any questions they may have about the local area as I’ve lived here for 36 years. Aside form that, I also have a detailed knowledge of the local weather conditions. This means you’re less likely to get cancelled in the field. Knowledge is power and being able to predict local nuances regarding the weather will also aid good flight planning, leading to safer flying.

I Because I’ve been flying here for 19 years, I know the local landowners well. I know where I can land and where to avoid. A pilot that flies the same patch year in, year out will be the same. Nothing leaves a downer on a flight experience more than being told “Get off my land” (or worse) by a farmer or abuse being hurled at you as a passenger. It normally occurs where problems have occurred previously and pilots have not shared this information outside of their own company. Not knowing the area may lead to a very late night waiting to be picked up.

R Launch site choice. This is the biggest joke of all, from ‘nationwide’ companies in particular. Saying that you can choose your launch site is basically a lie. Read the small print that says, the pilot may swap the site at the last minute and you have to turn up wherever he says. This may be over an hour away. So imagine call his ‘Conformation Line’ at 23:00 thinking you have a 2 minute walk around the corner, to be told you’ve got to drive over an hour away and be there at 05:30. The reason may be a valid one. For example is the upper winds are a strong southerly, then you’ll end up in the sea, or going into controlled airspace (Heathrow/Gatwick etc) but it might also be because he has just come back late from a mid summer flight and cannot reasonably rest for only 4 hours before having to trek over an hour to get to your site to fly in the morning.

G Rebooking. This is where the urine is well and truly extracted. A particular nationwide company quote somewhere that rebooking your flight will be 6-8 weeks. I’ll leave that there and tell you that we can fit you in within a few days for most of our slots and within 2 weeks for our most popular weekend slots (Saturday PM). Non-redemption should not be allowed as a business model. For the experience industry as a whole (trackdays, skydiving, segways, etc), non-redemption of vouchers is normally around 12%. This may be as high as 20-25% if you make it difficult/awkward/inconvenient for your customers to rebook. Just going from what you can find out online, a lot of customers from certain nationwide companies, simply give up.

I For a 16 passenger balloon, I have myself and 3 ground crew. That means we can be completely independent from the passengers if required. My passengers are can join in if they like but it’s not a necessity. I have seen a balloon company with a big red balloon operate with just one crew. Once the balloon and basket are off the trailer the minibus gets loaded on for the chase and then removed to take the passengers home. This means that the passengers have to take part packing away. Cow poo, stingers, thistles, a bad back, nice clothes or just can’t be arsed, might mean that you don’t want to.

N Return vehicle should be PSV licensed and driven by a fully qualified driver when transporting passengers.

E Champagne. We have lots of it and it’s very good quality, local, English (sparkling wine). We do carry some French stuff, but Chapel Down gets rave reviews and if it was good enough for the last Royal Wedding, then it’s good enough for me. You are not restricted to just one glass and can get plastered if you choose! We also carry Spitfire Ale (thanks to our sponsors), coke, orange juice and water for those who don’t like fizz. We also offer nibbles.

V Photos. We take on-board photos (around 10) AND photos from the ground (normally 50+). Often I’ll do a time lapse of the last 10 minutes fo the flight so you can see the landing too. These get put on a USB stick for £20 along with 150 library photos and you can buy them if you like. There’s no hard sell. You get to view them while drinking your champagne, so you can see before you buy.

E Merchandise. WE sell that to for those that want it. Hats, t-shirts, polo shirts, mugs, water bottles etc. Again there is no hard sell. If you want to sit in the field, drink champagne and watch the sun go down – fill your boots!

R So there you go. Some things to look out for. Any questions – just ask! I wish I was more local to you, so I could recommend a specific independent company. Wickers World seem to have a good reputation and also fly from Worcester Race Course… Take a look on Trip Advisor though for honest opinions. It’s the stuff after you’ve bought the voucher that you need to rely on later that’s important, not the snappy promotions or reductions from prices that were never that high in the first place.

Spice
CPL Balloon UK CAN AUS US
BBAC Instructor
BBAC LRO
25m Swimming badge

If you want real romance get a VIP balloon (Pilot plus two people) however you’ll be looking at least twice the cost.

Also if a company tells you they fly all year round, treat it with a pinch of salt. There’s little or no flying for long periods of time in the winter. We only fly April – October, as it’s generally when there’s the most chance of suitable weather. Once the ground is wet, trying to get 2Tons of equipment out of a wet muddy field is problematic. We sometimes fly our VIP balloon in the winter (and I also do some instructing too) but that ‘s small enough to be manhandled/walked out of a field.

I’ve been before, but to be honest, in the end, it was a bit of a let down.

I hear Virgin Balloon Flights are all the shizzle!

Having looked into it, they have morning or evening flights, what would be best?

They go whenever conditions permit. Be prepared for many false starts.

I’ve been on two (the first was so craptacular I thought I’d go again in case it was a one-off 😐 )

Waited nearly a year for the second one to fly what with the weather and accumulated backlog of punters.

* very slow
* wear a hat the burner fries your head
* views indistinguishable from those in an aeroplane but much less comfortable
* landing in a field and the return journey in a land rover is seriously underwhelming

Would not recommend

Rocketman – are you available to do our marketing?!!!
* If it’s too fast – you don’t survive! The basket, gravity and the passengers are the brakes!
* Most companies tell you to bring a hat (or at least we do)
* I’m not sure which plane you can go in and have a conversation with someone on the ground. Or indeed which planes fly below 1000ft and under 20mph, thus enabling you to take in the vista, smells and sounds.
* Landing in a field is normal. I’m not sure where else you would land something that is so rudimentary and guided by the available winds. (Although I have landed in car parks, gardens and even a tennis court). We have a minibus as being chucked in the back of a Land Rover is seriously underwhelming.
I’d like to think that if you’d flown with us, you would be able to recommend ballooning, or perhaps it’s just not your thing…

Where are you based sparkyspice?

I can recommend Bristol Balloons, who do also fly from Gloucestershire. Had a great flight with them.
We did get our launch site moved, no problem.
There was little wind, it was slow, there was bubbly.
The pilot knew his stuff and put the basket down as softly as you would a sleeping baby. it was close to a housing estate and all the kids came out in their PJ’s to help pack the balloon, it was the best bedtime EVER!
Get a flight at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, mass ascent, have also done that too, well worth the extra.

I have nothing constructive to add but,

I’m not sure what makes me happier, the fact that we have a balloon pilot on the forum, or the fact that I’m completely unsurprised that we have a balloon pilot on the forum because of course we do.

Thanks all for your replies, especially thanks to sparkyspice.

Where abouts are you based out of interest? Just thinking i could take her away for a few days and suprise her with a balloon ride.

Flights being cancelled is not a big problem as i am self employed, i don’t think the wife would like a 5:30 am start due getting up to the baby during the night.

Definitely a few things to think about, may ask her if she knows what’s involved next time she mentions it.

http://www.kentballooning.com

astormatt – I’m not telling you to put her off! I’m just informing you of the pitfalls ahead of time to avoid unnecessary disappointment. IE Taking her 200 miles for a surprise balloon ride that might be cancelled, might not be the way forward. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. Managing peoples’ expectations is the hardest part of the job, but if you can do that, the feedback you get is so much better. If you promise the earth and deliver nothing, people’s attitude change for the worse!

Cougar – Quite often I Google stuff and the first common sense review or answer listed, is some thread on here. It’s a shame there are some keyboard warriors looking to troll (the sort who’d have a fight in a phone box) but on the whole it’s great place to visit.

My dad won a balloon flight with Virgin and gave it to me. I expect I was lucky but I flew on my first booking and it was great. We helped get the balloon set up and packed away which I appreciate might not be everybodys cup of tea.

The landing was quite rough, the basket was side on getting dragged across a ploughed field, so not the gentle touchdown that you might imagine.