Time for a little view into Hot Air Ballooning!
I have owned Aerostar, Cameron and now Lindstrand Balloons.
My Aerostar Raven was 77,000 cubic feet and was Given to me by a very good friend. I put 3000 dollars into her to get her in the air. She was wonderful.. even after I ran into power lines.
The Cameron I purchased used from some good people in Oklahoma.. It was a great balloon to fly. Big.. it was 90,000 cubic feet.
No I have a Lindstrand Racer x-69. Its 69,000 cubic feet... small... fast.. and fun....
Ill talk about the Lindstrand now since I was asked about it again and I thought I could put it here and Balloonists that know balloons can check out some of the specs as well as those of you new to balloons can see a little of the details of this type balloon.
Here are a few pages from my Flight Manual..
Weights of Equipment....
Fuel type and specific operating Pressure..
Extra Required Equipment... Helmets are required too.....and...
Venting Parameters....
There are a bunch of other things too but these questions I talk about a lot...
Weight of the system is critical.. Depending on what altitude your taking off from and ambient temprature....load... all depend on if you can get off the ground safely and within the specs of your system.
Read that part about the power lines in the last photo.
You will note I can only vent for 3 seconds... that means that the crown vent of the balloon can be opened to expel hot air for 3 seconds only.
There and more things about ballooning to pass on but this is a quick info segment....
Ballooning is fun.. Its fantastic.. but its also real flying. It may look like a Pilot is just having fun with you while your flying in the air but He / She is scanning, feeling, watching thinking.. thinking...
A good Pilot will make it seem like they are just having a heck of a fun time along with you... He / She will talk to you ... point things out... and get you back on the ground safely.
I will start at the beginning of Ballooning from my point of view tomorrow...
Lets call it... So YOU want to fly in a balloon... some things to think of before you book that ride!
