Hot Air Ballooning

There are lots of images on this page, sorry if the loading time is too high. Hot air ballooning is one of the most photogenic of subjects as well as being really exciting to both participants and onlookers alike.

I discovered that a neighbour of mine has a family membership of a local balloon club, when he asked if we wanted to go and see a launch one day. That was enough to get me totally hooked and I also joined the club with the family in hot pursuit.

Wensum Valley Balloon Club

The Wensum Valley Balloon Club is a small and exclusive club with limited membership and based in the Wensum Valley in Norfolk. The club operates high specification British made hot-air balloons with full airworthiness certification, which are flown by fully qualified pilots; the Chief Pilot has a wealth of experience of ballooning dating back to 1973. The club is non-profit making and in addition to flying, organises a wide range of activities including crew training, ballooning weekends, social events and the issue of a regular newsletter.

Setting up The Wensum Valley Balloon Club is for people who wish to enjoy the sport of hot-air ballooning and become involved in crewing before having their first flight - the best way to fully appreciate the ultimate experience. The club does not offer one-off special occasion balloon flights for payment as this is regarded by the Civil Aviation Authority as 'Public Transport' requiring compliance with expensive rules and regulations equally applicable to international airlines! (If you wish to pursue this option we can arrange this for you with a local commercial balloon operator).

Weather

Evening calm The basic meteorological requirement for a balloon flight is calm winds of 10 knots or less, good visibility and stable atmosphere with no thermals, rain or thunder activity. These conditions can most frequently be found early in the morning during the first few hours of daylight and the last few hours of daylight in the evening - the times therefore when most balloon flights take place.

Ballooning is an all year round sport - in the summer months the long hours of daylight and generally better weather favour more flying; during the winter months the opportunities for flying are usually limited to the weekends.

Flight Arrangements

In flight Because of ever changing meteorological conditions, balloon flights are usually organised at short notice. Morning flights tend to be organised the evening before, and evening flights organised at lunchtime or early afternoon the same day. A large number of telephone calls have to be made to organise a flight - the met office, the owner of the launch site, local airports, pilot and club members - all have to be contacted in a short timescale and for this reason telephone conversations need to be kept short. The balloons are flown by a qualified balloon pilot and carry only two or three passengers at a time; a typical flight lasts about one hour and in the calm wind conditions will usually travel about ten miles.

Costs

Warming up Ballooning, like all other forms of aviation, does not come cheap. A modern hot-air balloon and all the associated equipment costs between £15,000 and £20,000. The balloon envelope, made of strong but lightweight nylon materials, operates at very high temperatures (100+ deg C) and has to be replaced every 4/5 years. The liquid propane is consumed at an amazing rate and the insurance premiums for the hull, passenger liability and third party cover have to be seen to be believed. There are also many peripheral costs, including petrol, telephone calls, maintenance repairs - and sometimes even champagne!

How To Join

If you would like to take up the exclusive sport of ballooning with the Wensum Valley Balloon Club, all you need to do is to complete a membership application form and to send it to the membership secretary together with the joining membership fee and your first years subscription. The number of members is limited and may be full subscribed at any one time. If your application is accepted, you will be sent a club membership card and receive regular copies of the club newsletter. We will then add you to the flight organiser's telephone list who will phone you when a flight is being organised - you can then come out to the launch site and be actively involved as a crew member with the Wensum Valley Balloon Club.

Nicky and Tina The club regularly has outings to various events around the area. Here two junior members - my daughter Tina and her friend Nicky have fun on a tethered ride at an open day for Centre Parcs at Thetford forest. This adds interest to the participants in type of event as well as exposure for our sponsors.

Ballooning Picture Gallery

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