balloons

Up, Up, ...

and Away!!!

For many years, we were fortunate enough to operate Skylark Balloonport, a business offering commercial hot-air balloon rides over the scenic Eastern Iowa countryside. Since our recent move to Illinois, we are without a balloon to call our own for a while. Nonetheless, we hope we can re-create a bit of the magic on these pages for all of you who've ever wanted to experience this unique adventure. Some of these pages will be a bit photo-intensive, and may be slow to load. We hope you'll find the wait worthwhile!
The Beginner's Guide to Balloonwatching | The View from Aurora | Tips for Future Flyers
Ballooning FAQ's | Glossary of Ballooning Terms | Ballooning Resources On-Line

A Beginner's Guide to Balloon-Watching

Introduction

Ballooning has come a long way since the first passengers - a rooster, a duck, and a sheep - were sent aloft over the French countryside on an enclosed wooden platform suspended beneath a smoke-filled linen bag... a far cry from the modern sport balloon. The first manned flight took place over Paris in 1783, and early balloonists were often greeted by farmers bearing pitchforks, who thought that demons were descending from the sky. Today's traditional post-flight champagne celebration is a throwback to those days, when a pilot (aeronaut) would carry a bottle or two of wine to share with spectators upon landing, thus proving that he was, in fact, a civilized man, and not a creature from the stars.

Ballooning continued to be a novel experience reserved only for the wealthy and adventuresome of those days. Later it became a means of conducting military surveillance, and we're also all familiar with the use of unmanned balloons used for making meteorological observations. But sport ballooning as we know it today only came into its own in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when it quickly captured the public's imagination. "Up, Up and Away" became a hit for the Fifth Dimension, and balloon motifs could be found on everything from coffee mugs and wallpaper to jigsaw puzzles and jewelry.

The Sport Balloon of Today

Today's balloons are fuelled by liquid propane. A typical balloon carries between thee and six 10-gallon tanks of fuel, depending on its size, and a modern burner can generate upwards of 25 million BTU per hour. Needless to say, an important part of every flight is the pre-flight testing of the burner, and a careful examination of all fuel lines for leaks. This is solely the responsibility of the pilot, although at the pilot's discretion, a crew member may perform these checks.

The "bag" (envelope) is no longer made of linen, but from one of a variety of synthetic fabrics - ripstop nylon or polyester - that are coated before manufacture to prevent air from leaking out and impairing fuel-efficiency. Size (AX type) is categorized by the volume of air which can be held, and while there is a wide range of sizes, the most commonly seen balloons are between 65,000 (AX-6) 105,000 (AX-8) cubic feet and can carry between three and six passengers, plus pilot. When fully inflated, balloons in this range stand as tall as a five to seven story building.

The carriage (basket or gondola) is most frequently woven of wicker, though some fiberglass and aluminum models can still be seen. As a point of interest, "gondola" properly refers only to fiberglass or aluminum carriages; "basket" is the correct term for wicker carriages.

Ready to take a flight?

Too windy today, but we can get ready!

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