Hot Air Balloon Flight

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Hot Air Balloon Flight
Product Code: P00032


£144.99

How does the gift experience voucher work?

Your Experience
Few can resist the attraction as one hundred feet of wispy nylon majestically rises with the dragon-like roar of the burners. As you take off you'll be more aware of the ground dropping away than of any sensation of movement or rising. The feeling of peace and tranquillity is heightened by the apparent lack of wind - because you're moving with it.

Once in the air, your balloon travel up to heights of several thousand feet, allowing you to gaze down upon villages, towns and the countryside. The 'miniature' people and cars scattered seemingly at random across the ground below look as if they've fallen from a toy box.

The supremely steady balloon basket provides an excellent vantage point for aerial photography. This un-missable opportunity to record your trip is heightened by the ability of the pilot to turn the balloon using the 'rotation vents' - thus providing you with a truly panoramic view as you float through the air.

You'll also have a good chance of spotting wildlife, particularly on morning flights, such as this one. Views depend entirely on the wind direction on the day, which means every flight is an unique experience.

Every balloon flight is round off with a champagne toast and you will receive a personalised commemorative flight certificate signed by the pilot, making the occasion even more memorable and ensuring that the experience is on that will stay with you for years to come.

Approximate Itinerary
- Call the day before for weather check and launch site confirmation
- Meet the pilot and crew, sign in and help prepare and inflate the balloon
- Board balloon and launch, up, up and away
- Landing and champagne celebration & certificate presentation. Help pack balloon away.
- Transfer and arrive back at launch site.

Vital information
THIS EXPERIENCE CAN ONLY BE REDEEMED FOR MIDWEEK MORNINGS. You must be sufficiently agile to climb in and out of the basket, which is about 42 inches (1.1 m) high and stand for around an hour. Children must be at least 8 years old, and over 4'6" high (1.4m). A child under the age of 16 years will only be flown if accompanied by a responsible adult appointed by the partent(s) or guardian. Maximum weight is 18 stones (114kg). You should not fly if you are suffering from any significant medical condition, or have recently undergone surgery. You may be asked to provide a certificate of your fitness to fly from your doctor or specialist. You must not fly if you are pregnant or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

The Weather
Ballooning is very weather dependent. You will be asked to phone the location prior to the flight to check the weather. If it is unsuitable, you simply rebook for another convenient day.

Session Length
The actual time in the air is approx. one hour. Passengers and spectators are invited to participate in the pre and post flight preparation and dismantling of the balloon and this is all part of the experience. It is very important that you arrive at the meeting point at the correct time. It will sometimes be necessary to transport you a short distance from the meeting point to an alternative launch site, owing to the wind direction or local conditions. At the end of the flight you will be returned to the original meeting point. For this reason you must allow at least four hours for the complete experience.

Spectators
Spectators are welcome to watch the balloon launch. If alternative launch site to the meeting location is used, they have to make their own way there and back.

Dress Code
You should wear clothing suitable for a country walk appropriate to the time of year, preferably of natural fibres. A hat or cap may be useful to protect your head from the heat of the burners. Ladies please wear trousers. Sensible walking shoes or boots are recommended, preferably ones that are waterproof. Space is restricted in the basket, so please avoid bringing large rucksacks and bags.

Availability
The main flying season is from mid March to the end of October. These flights are on WEEKDAY MORNINGS (excl. Bank Holidays) from the widest selection of launch sites across the UK (excl. London).

Locations
- Bath
- Bristol
- Cornwall : Bodmin, Launceston
- Devon : Exeter, Plymout
- Dorset : Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Blandford
- Essex : Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford
- Gloucestershire : Cheltenham, Stow on the Wold
- Hampshire : Basingstoke, Hartley Wintney, Old Basing
- Hertfordshire : Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage
- Kent : Leeds Castle, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks
- Norfolk : Norwich
- Northamptonshire : Northampton
- Oxfordshire : Banbury
- Somerset : Yeovil, Castle Cary, Taunton
- Staffordshire : Stafford
- Sussex : Uckfield
- Warwickshire : Stratford upon Avon
- Wiltshire : Salisbury
- Worcestershire : Worcester, Evesham
- Scotland : Edinburgh
- Wales : Tintern, Usk Valley, Wye Valley

Description

Price Each

Quantity

Total

Hot Air Balloon Flight : UK Wide

Fly all week - Incl. London
You will also have the possibility to fly in the afternoon and you can also fly in weekends. This includes flights over London. (Valid for 1 person)

Fly with a friend !
You will have a Balloon Flight for 2 ! Enjoy the flight together! This flight includes the possibility to fly in the afternoon and weekends. Including flights over London !

EXPERIENCE TOTAL

£144.99


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Fascinating Facts

The basic idea behind hot air balloons has been around for a long time. Archemedes, one of the greatest mathematicians in Ancient Greece, figured out the principle of buoyancy more than 2,000 years ago, and may have conceived of flying machines lifted by the force. In the 13th century, the English scientist Roger Bacon and the German philosopher Albertus Magnus both proposed hypothetical flying machines based on the principle. But nothing really got off the ground until the summer of 1783, when the Montgolfier brothers sent a sheep, a duck and a chicken on an eight-minute flight over France.

The two brothers, Joseph and Etienne, worked for their family's prestigious paper company. As a side project, they began experimenting with paper vessels elevated by heated air. Over the course of a couple years, they developed a hot air balloon very similar in design to the ones used today. But instead of using propane, they powered their model by burning straw, manure and other material in an attached fire pit.

The sheep, duck and chicken became the first balloon passengers on Sept. 19, 1783, in the Montgolfiers' first demonstration flight for King Louis XVI. They all survived the trip, giving the King some assurance that human beings could breath the atmosphere at the higher elevation. Two months later, the Marquis Francois d'Arlandes, a major in the infantry, and Pilatre de Rozier, a physics professor, became the first human beings to fly.

Other hot air balloon designs and ambitious flights followed, but by 1800, the hot air balloon had been largely overshadowed by gas balloons. One factor in this popularity decline was the death of Pilatre de Rozier in an attempted flight over the English Channel. The new balloon he built for the flight included a smaller hydrogen balloon in addition to the hot air balloon envelope. The fire ignited the hydrogen early in the flight, and the entire balloon burst into flames.

But the main reason hot air balloons fell out of fashion was that new gas balloon dirigible designs were superior in a number of ways -- chiefly, they had longer flight times and could be steered.

Another popular balloon type was the smoke balloon. These balloons were lifted by a fire on the ground, and did not have any attached heat source. They simply shot up in the air, and then sank back to the ground. Their main use was as an attraction at travelling fairs in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The balloonist would put on a parachute and attach himself to a canvas balloon. Then, several assistants would hold the balloon over a fire pit, getting the air hotter and hotter, and so increasing the upward force. When the force was great enough -- and if the balloon hadn't caught on fire -- the assistants would let go and the balloonist would be launched into the air. When the balloon reached its highest point, the balloonist would detach and parachute to the ground.

Since the 1960s, traditional hot air balloons have enjoyed a renaissance, due in part to a man named Ed Yost and his company, Raven Industries. Yost and his partners founded Raven Industries in 1956 to design and build hot air balloons for the United States Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR). The ONR wanted the balloons for short-range transportation of small loads. Yost and his team took the basic concept of the Montgolfier brothers' balloon and expanded it, adding the propane burner system, new envelope material, a new inflation system and many important safety features.

They also came up with the modern, light-bulb-style envelope shape. Yost first designed large, spherical balloons. These balloons worked well, but had an odd inflation pattern: When the air was heated, the top of the balloon filled up, but the bottom stayed under-inflated. For efficiency, Yost just got rid of the extra fabric at the bottom, developing the familiar "natural" balloon shape we see today.

By the early 1960s, the ONR had lost interest in hot air balloons, so Yost began selling his balloons as sporting equipment. Other companies soon sprang up, as more and more people got involved in ballooning. Over the years, designers have continued to modify hot air balloons, adding new materials and safety features, as well as developing creative envelope shapes. Some manufacturers have also increased basket size and load capacity, building balloons that hold up to 20 passengers!

But the basic design is still Yost's modified version of the Montgolfier brothers' original concept. This remarkable technology has enthralled people all over the world. Balloon tours are a multi-million dollar business, and balloon races and other events continue to attract crowds of spectators and participants. It's even become fashionable (among billionaires) to build high-tech balloons for trips around the world. It really says a lot about hot air balloons that they are still so popular, even in the age of jet planes, helicopters and space shuttles!