Brilliant Long Weekend

Thursday night and our 1st launch from Lydiard Park in Swindon....ending up in Ramsbury Estate!....Friday morning from Bath and then on to Raglan for the evening flight in light winds....stayed over for the morning launch and a huge breakfast at the garden centre!......Sunday morning from Swindon again...landing at Redlands airfield.....and finally Bath on Sunday evening for a short flight to Batheaston!......and now the weather is pants again!!!

A Week On.....

Sunday 26th and managed to launch from Bath for a smashing evening flight North of the city eventually landing near Wooton under Edge. Long retrieval due to pilot being a prat and landing 4 fields from civilisation!!

A failed launch on Tuesday morning....Met Office talking Bollocks ...again!....followed by a brilliant launch from Cheltenham Racecourse on the Wednesday morning....although landing was into 'enemy' territory :-D

Thursday morning.....Good old Ashton Court for a 0630 take off and cool landing on a sports field!.......3 flights in the same week....Oh JOY!!!!!

Bath Window

Managed a launch from Royal Vic Park in Bath on Sunday night ....lovely evening ....taking off with Baileys and Bath Balloons....landed gently at Colerne military base .....access made easy by the helpful RAF and Army security team....Cheers!

Another Window

Tuesday brought a fine day with an early launch from the 'Maize Field' and a gentle flight down to the South West of Keynsham, landing on a friends property!(no, not the actual building!!)

The evening flight was cancelled on site when the bloody wind INCREASED instead of dropping out!!! Sad passengers, even sadder pilot and crew.....

Busy Saturday

An 0615 launch from the 'maize' field in Bath started the day off with a cloudless flight down to Orchardleigh golf course near Frome....with a friendly welcome from one of the green keepers.....Because the weather has been so pants lately....and to get the mini bus to earn it's keep when flying is off, we do occasional work for a local taxi company under the 'Hotskies' flag....if they get a request to move large numbers for wedding parties, days out etc, we help out if available. Today, thinking the weather would be poo(which was forecast earlier in the week) we accepted a run to the local paintball centre....which fitted in between flights nicely if , as turned out, we were going to fly.....Finished that job and then straight down to Ashton Court in Bristol for the evening flight!.....Good launch over Bristol from West to East..ish...landing near Pucklechurch in the furthest field possible from the road!!...access via a slurry covered farmyard...love this job!

Wet and Dry

Forecast for Thurday morning was good with the threat of winds picking up fairly quickly...Pilot called the flight on for 0600 on the outskirts of Bath....it pissed down...Met Office got it really wrong again...I feel for the passengers who got up really early to disappointment. We try very hard to make the right call but unfortunately we have to make a decision at least 3 to 4 hours in advance for an evening flight and realistically about 8 hours ahead for a morning flight.....not easy rolling the dice against nature!

Anyway, we called the Raglan flight on for Friday morning for a 0600 launch(to beat the rain).......airborne by 0610...cracking flight out towards Monmouth, landing on a farm that breed 'Bison'.....big lads..not to be messed with! Good retrieval and passengers back to their cars by 0830.....some you win and some you lose!!(Balloon Team 1 - Rainfall 0)

Cheltenham Racecourse

Slightly windy launch from the racecourse on Monday night with a Northerly track to the West of Evesham.......landing two fields from the nearest road, friendly natives and a lovely set of passengers. The farmer could not remember the code for the gate lock!....so he led the rig in from the other end of Worcestershire to gain access :-D!!

Long Flight

Windy launch from Royal Victoria Park saw the evening flight wiz off towards the South West......eventually landing on the Southern outskirts of the cathedral city of Wells... a glorious evening and happy passengers and a crew member with severe stomach cramps( I won't go into details! ).......bloody wind picking up again for the weekend.

Glorious June!!!!

Wednesday evening had us whizzing over to Raglan for a grand flight over the castle and then heading slightly South East before landing in a hay field(not ideal but sunset was fast approaching!..........Up with the dawn on Thursday morning for a misty meet in Bath.....laid out and waited til just before 0800 when the Lord of the Mists disappeared allowing a gentle flight to the outskirts of Coombe Hay to the South of Bath.

Weather Window

Bank Holiday Monday.......take a chance on the weather coming good and cross the Severn to Pandy in the rain! Forecast is for rain to clear through with the odd shower remaining. We rigged in light rain, found a large gap in the clouds and launched for a lovely flight landing just north of Monmouth.....lovely bunch of passengers and great landowners!.........Tuesday night and we were expecting the wind to drop so we could launch from Bath........having won the gamble on Monday....we lost on Tuesday.....Hey Ho.....only 4 flights in the whole of May!!...worst launch record for 12 years!!!!........June will be better......pleeeaase!!!

Two in one day!!

Thursday morning ....bright sunshine, cloudless and gentle launch from Royal Victoria Park in Bath.....landing in North Bradley near Trowbridge where the balloon was greeted by loads of school children on their way to the local primary!....The evening flight eventually launched from Pandy, having moved from Raglan because of a change in wind direction.......Nice calm landing in the Welsh borders....with another warm welcome from the locals!...

Friday the 13th!

Unlucky for some.......Flight from Raglan on Friday the 13th on a lovely clear morning...1st launch since Easter Sunday!......Safe landing but awkward access for retrieval!....Farmer demanded 250-300 pounds to be given to a church charity (we had offered a reasonable 60 pounds) before he would let us on 'his' land....turns out he was only renting the field from his neighbour. Said neighbour escorted us to the field and demanded a couple of bottles of red wine for his trouble! He was offered a cash landing fee which he refused...."My wife likes a glass of red occasionally".....Good things happen to good people!...

Wind

Bloody windy for days and days and no sign of dropping out and I am getting no money....

Sunday evening

Bath was Sundays launch venue in hazy sunshine with a fair breeze up high taking us to the south of Radstock for a comfortable landing . The forecast in the medium term looks too windy......fingers crossed for lighter winds!!

South Wales

Spent Good Friday in Monmouthshire....early morning launch from Monmouth in warm sun with a gentle breeze to the west. A hearty breakfast followed and then a drive up to Hay Bluff in the Black Mountains for R & R before a decision on the even flight. Whilst my fellow avaitors slept off their 99 cones, I climbed to the summit of the Bluff in hot sunshine and sandals!.....the evening flight was called off at the last due to thunder forecast.....so we parked the rig at a friends property and bused back over the bridge for some sleep before the Raglan flight the next morning. Up at 0330 on Saturday morning....whizzed back to Raglan for a great flight and another breakfast before heading back home to prepare for the evening flight from Kemble Airfield.........Flight cancelled on site.... mainly due to thunder clap interupting the safety brief!!!

Weird Weather

Flight from Cheltenham on Tuesday evening was pretty standard with the exception of not being able to contact the land owner....the weather was lovely with a light breeze.

Wednesday evening from Bath and the warmth of the day produced a few thundery looking cloud formations which looked benign but caused some unstable air and our balloon actually did a 'U' turn before landing safely in a padlocked field!

Tuesday Morning from Bath

Stunning sunny morning flight from Royal Victoria Park in light winds to the South West of the city....landing at Farnborough village....one of the passengers, Bob, an avid balloon enthusiast, had yet another smashing flight and alighted from the mini bus with the biggest grin on the planet, despite the challenges he faces in life.

Weather still Good!!

Sunday evening and a gentle launch from Monmouth down towards Raglan landing at the 'Grange'....The owner of the field refused a bottle of wine or, indeed, a landing fee, as in his own words...."The countryside is for all to share...you are very welcome to land on my property at anytime".......what a wonderful attitude to witness in these times when possession 'status' and 'greed' is the normal pattern.

Weather being good!

Friday evening and a fairly drama free launch from Kemble airfield ........forecast was for cloud and possible showers but in reality a nice evening with a fair amount of blue sky and no wet stuff! Landed on a stud farm occupied by friendly natives!. Saturday morning and a return to Ashton Court, complete contrast to the earlier failed launch...very little wind with bright sunshine and lots of other balloons taking off....like a mini fiesta! Landed at Hengrove Park next to the car boot sale.... The evening flight from Cheltenham was again very windless(is that actually a word?) and only just managed to clear the town landing in a field with access so well hidden, a 'stargate' would be easier to spot :-D.....Landowner was great and many locals helped to pack away...Cheers you lovely Cheltenham people... It's Sunday morning...Bath flight off because of fog...pilot and Chris at the London Marathon start line tethering a Virgin promo balloon....lucky bastards!!!

Boo Whooooo

Failed launch at Bristols' Ashton Court due to high winds which were due to drop out earlier than they did!!!....hey ho some you win and some you lose!

Summertime Weather

What a fantastic few days....Thursday night(7th) and a North West wind from Pandy in clear skies landing near Mitchell Troy with little drama and a happy farmer.... .... Friday morning from Raglan and the crew were hit with 'Gremlins!' as senior moments set in and the balloon bag was left un-noticed on the trailer!!!....the parachute had a knot in the lines....and Chris lost the 'plot' :-D.......but most importantly the passengers had a delightful and danger free flight ! Friday lunch followed by an hours drive back across the boarder to Cheltenham and a 'siesta' before launching from the racecourse in unusually light winds and landing at 'Freds' estate south of the town to be welcomed by very excited kids and locals! Flight de-brief took place at TGI Fridays with Stella and nibbles!! Speedy upper winds meant a sleep in Saturday morning before returning to base via the AV8 cafe at Kemble for brekky. Bathed my beautiful mini bus after lunch before heading to Alice park in Bath for a dramatic launch from a small area with loads of onlookers who gave a round of applause on launch. The landing was not without excitement as Bristol ATC told the pilot(who had been given permission to fly up to 1500ft) to land immediately as Ryan Air were about to take off......basket in one field...envelope in the next field....luckily no damage or holes!!! Sunday was back to back flights from RVP in the morning and the Maze field in the evening. The AM flight was pretty standard with the exception of a farmers wife who was convinced that I was going to run over her ducks(I love ducks!)....that the field the pilot landed in was ruined ... she would lose her livelyhood (short grass field) .... when she realised 2 other balloons had landed in other parts of the farm, it took the diplomatic efforts of myself and 2 pilots to smooth things out......we failed. That particular farm is now classed as a 'sensitive area' which means that unless it's an emergency no more landing there. The PM flight by contrast was the exact opposite......Very still air meant a launch to 5000ft and very little else for an hour before gently landing half a mile from the launch site on friendly farm land!! That is now 18 flights in the first month of the season....bloody brilliant.!!!

Cross Channel Record attempt

Good luck to all balloon teams taking part in the cross Channel record attempt!.........meanwhile back in the West Country, we are preparing for two days away in Monmouthshire and Cheltenham before returning to Bath for Saturday evenings flight!

Good News

Looks like fair weather from Wednesday PM through to the weekend!!

Blowing out

Looks like the winds could drop and give us a flying window on Saturday night/Sunday morning!!!

Weather

Bloody wind grrrrrr!!!!

Monmouth in Hazy Sunshine

Nice evening launch from Monmouth on the first day of 'BST'........bit hazy but light winds drifting into the Usk region landing on a sheep farm. The crew were greeted by young lambs, full of energy doing 'Tigger' impressions...and a lovely farmer who seemed more laid back than a really laid back person! Flight No12....and still only March .......looks like we may get another one in tomorrow before the weather breaks on Tuesday/Wednesday......

Box landing

Didn't do a 'box'....which is a term used in the ballooning world for landing in the same place as you take off.....but landed AT Box, a village between Bath and Corsham. After a gentle launch from Baths' Royal Victoria Park and a slow drift to the East, the pilot dropped into a sloping field on the edge of Box on land belonging to Ashley Wood farm. The Landowner was in the middle of doing breakfast for her guests-as well as farming , this family run a Bed and lovely smelling Breakfast business! Afternoon flight from Cheltenham was cancelled due to low cloud and the chance of windy gusts! ( hey ho ... can't complain about such a great start to the season.)

Fair Weather holds !!!

Launched from Monmouth on Wednesday evening into light winds and clear skies landing North of Raglan on land we had previously been on, knowing the landowner is a bonus!
Thursday ....an Easterly wind meant we launched from Atworth, again in smashing weather, landing North of Bath on a very sloped field!
Friday morning was a Pilot assessment flight for two Virgin pilots who will be working abroad this season(lucky buggers). So, to stop himself being bored, whilst other people were flying his balloon, my pilot decided to crew with me!.....not good.....did no work...did lots of talking with the flight ops director and left me to it(good thing really as pilots make shit ground crew :-D)

The weekend looks fairly good so fingers crossed for a couple more flights!!

Busy Weekend

Wow...that was a busy weekend.....Cheltenham Friday evening and Saturday morning with clear skies and light winds, followed by Saturday evening and Sunday morning in Bath........ending the weekend in Bristol on Sunday evening with a grand flight right over the city landing just to the North East on a friendly farmers field..........Brilliant start to the season and flights for Wednesday and Thursday look good too!

Back at Last

It's been 9 months since my last post, partly due to lazyness but mainly major changes in life and working practice.

My lovely Mum passed away in early July2010, a devastating realisation of loss when the two people who made you are no longer around .....but the joy of memories helps alot.

At the end of July, VOSA changed the goal posts and demanded that passengers on balloon flights could only be returned to the launch site by a qualified mini bus driver(as opposed to someone with D1 (101 restriction). This caused great expense to the pilot, who had to sub-contract transport until one of the crew(me) took the PCV course and test! After many hours study I passed the THREE theory exams and passed the practical test in February on the second go!.

It is now mid March, we have a lovely new-ish mini bus and are looking forward to launching the big red Virgin Balloon from Cheltenham on 'Red Nose' day! This is our third flight of the season having launched from Bath last Tuesday and Sunday.

Fingers crossed for a season of light winds and sunshine!!!