My wife and I did this a couple of weekends ago in Tucson. What a blast! Our trip covered 18.3 miles over 71 minutes. Maximum altitude was 3,400 feet (1,300 feet over the ground) and maximum speed was 33 mph. The landing was the fun part, everyone had to get on one side of the balloon and the basket tilted over on its side when stopping. Fortunately the ground crew was there to grab the balloon. I strongly recommend this activity to you, if available where you live or vacation. A few photos provided, my wife is hiding behind dark glasses while I am wearing a blue jacket.
Pat: Glad to hear you and your wife enjoyed the ride. Isn't it amazing how gently you leave the ground and how much you can hear when the burners aren't being used? There are commercial balloon operators all over the country. If you travel much, take advantage of some of them to really "see" the countryside. I find myself fortunate in my job as a FAA Inspector to give annual checkrides to Designated Pilot Examiners in balloons. On the whole, most commercial balloon ride operators act in a safe and responsible way. Everyone should consider adding a balloon ride to their "bucket list" as one of life's greatest joys.
Finally I get to see a picture of PriusChat's Residental DIY Scholar in Residence. The ballooning looks like a blast. My 5 y/o would LOVE it.
Patrick, You lucky dog! I'm guiding middle schoolers through a Lighter Than Air activity in a NSF funded STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) program right now. Here's the intro video I'm currently using. We watch it twice; once from beginning to end, then stopping to discuss each new word/phrase/concept: We don't have the $$$ or opportunity to actually go up in a HA balloon, but we do fly small ones in our shop/lab space. The airtemp at the center of a fullsize HAB is ~212 deg F... hot stuff! Thanks for the pix. I can now say with calm assurance that "a friend of mine" took and enjoyed a HAB flight. (We go on to helium balloons, and build individual rubber powered blimps and on to RC indoor blimps. Cool! Thanks to NSF for the opportunity to see the wonder the world/universe has to offer through the eyes of kid again!)
Nice video. There were 8 people along for the ride; the pilot and seven passengers. The total capacity of that balloon is supposed to be 10 people. IIRC the total weight of the balloon, basket and people was >2,000 lb, and the burners can produce 1 million BTU of heat energy. Pretty amazing to think that the hot air provided sufficient lift. As we were floating above residential areas, we could hear the local dogs barking. Apparently they don't like hearing the burners turn on and off.
They are amazing. We flew in a hot air balloon in Capadocia Turkey that could hold 24 passengers ( we had 21 on our flight) and could climb at 800 ft+ per minute. We got to over 5,000 feet above the ground at one point.
... and the ever-increasing density of the elected representatives not a member of the party you favor... to say nothing of the cumulative dead weight of the various full time standing committee staffs.
I had the opportunity, once, to go up in a tethered balloon. Just the ride up, a few minutes to look around and make appreciative noises, then back down to the ground. It was great. I'd love to do a HA balloon ride!
