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!!!