Bristol Balloon Fiesta

[drauk]

I am hoping to visit the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this year and thought lots of balloons might make quite a sight from the air. I plan to fly in to Bristol Filton. However, I don't know much (anything really!) about ballooning so would appreciate any advice. Obviously I need to stay extremely well clear of them, mind the Bristol CTR and study any NOTAMS carefully. How high do balloons go, what kind of climb rate do they have, how far from their take-off point are they likely to travel on these kind of exhbition flights?

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

I am hoping to visit the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this year and thought lots of balloons might make quite a sight from the air.


Yup :D


I plan to fly in to Bristol Filton. However, I don't know much (anything really!) about ballooning so would appreciate any advice.
Obviously I need to stay extremely well clear of them, mind the Bristol CTR and study any NOTAMS carefully


Yup, bear in mind that balloons travel quite slowly, so avoiding them shouldn't be too difficult. I believe that there are 120 balloons registered for the event, and they will be in close proximity on launch. I would guess that the best photo opportunity would be to circle up-wind of the launch site during the first part of the mass launch, then go for a jolly downwind, keeping your distance, of course. Balloons have their own CAA-approved frequency, 122.475 (for which you do not need an RT licence -- hence there will be some fairly non-standard RT :oh: ) but with up to 120 balloons on frequency, you might not get anything useful...


How high do balloons go, what kind of climb rate do they have,


Balloonists generally prefer to stay as low as the 500' and 1500' rules allows them :ok: Generally, you wont find balloons much above 2000' AGL, unless they are "up to" something interesting, liek a distance or duration flight. Most balloons do not have transponders, they generally only borrow one for one of the aforementioned "interesting" flights.


how far from their take-off point are they likely to travel on these kind of exhbition flights?

How far will depend on wind-speed: a flight averages about 1 hour in length. On a 15knot wind (about the fastest a balloon would normally fly in) that'll be around 15 nm downrange. Get a large lump of high-pressure and an inversion, and I've seen balloons go less that 1/4 mile in the same time -- very boring -- that's also when you are most likely to see balloons going up and down allover the place -- faster vertically than horizontally. Typically, balloons are rated for vertical speeds of around 1200 fpm, but you won't often see them going up that fast, usually 600-800fpm. Going down is more impressive; you may well see the odd balloon dropping out of the sky, particularly if there's a competition on. 800 - 1000 fpm looks much more spectacular than it sounds, because of the very low forward velocity -- it can look just like the balloon is falling out of the sky.

The one thing you need to bear in mind is flight times: typically 2 hours after dawn and 2 hours before dusk. At this time of year that means morning briefing at 05:45 AM :uhoh:

I'll be there in a friend's balloon, G-CBHX :)

Be prepared to do a lot of flying around in circles :) and let's hope that the weather works out.

Feel free to post more questions here or PM me if you need any more info.

[drauk]

Thanks RTFM. Very helpful indeed. We were going to watch the dawn lift from the ground (at least on Saturday), so perhaps we can be airborne for the dusk departure. Do you happen to know if any substantial number of balloons are flying on Saturday evening and if so, what time? Is it pretty precisely 2 hours before dusk?

[WestWind1950]

hi drauk,

the 2 hours before sunset is usually because of the thermals... balloonist don't want them and the thermals sometimes don't die until around then. It always depends on the weather conditions, especially the wind, as to where, when, and how far the balloons travel. As said already, a hot-air balloon flight lasts usually about an hour. It depends on the amount of propane that can be taken along, the amount of guests on board, the outside temperatures, the setting sun, and the available landing sites. As soon as a good site for landing is found, then down they go before it gets critical...

Enjoy the experience! It's usually a great sight! wish I could be there! :{


http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-085.gif Westy

[SevernTMA]

Been a couple of times, very impressed by the big "light-up" after dark!!!! could someone please confirm the dates for the event?


Oh, and any chance of a ride? Swap for a flight in a light single perhaps?

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

No, it's not that precise :cool: As Westy says, it depends on the amount of thermic activity and/or sea breezes. If you want to PM me a mobile number, I'll be happy to call you up after the briefing to let you know what the plan is...

The Fiesta is the weekend of the 8/9/10 August. I'll checkout when the flying/glow slots are and post back.

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

Balloon Launch times during the Fiesta weekend are scheduled to be:

Thursday 7th August - 6.00 pm 'Special Shapes' launch and tether, followed by Night Glow.
Friday 8th August - 6.00 am and 6.00 pm
Saturday 9th August - 6.00 am and 6.00 pm, followed by Night Glow
Sunday 10th August - 6.00 am and 6.00 pm

subject to weather conditions, of course :ok:

[martine]

Just a quick comment: If you're intending to use Filton the opening hours are somewhat restricted at weekends like 9am-5pm Saturday and 10am-5pm Sunday but check as they do vary if they've got something big scheduled.

[drauk]

Martine, I noticed exactly that and have been meaning to call them and check. Is Bristol (which I understand is 24Hr) significantly more expensive for two landings and two nights' parking?

[martine]

I don't know what Bristol charges but I'd guess yes.

Staverton, sorry Gloucester! has longer opening hours and I believe you can depart outside normal operating hours if you sign a form.

The guys @ Filton are usually friendly but it is a privatley owned airfield (by BAe) and they will shut up shop if there is nothing due in outside normal hours. I suggest you phone them up and see what's what.

I can vouch for the fiesta (though not having seen it from the air) when a mass launch happens it a truly beautiful sight. The medium range weather forecast is looking excellent for next weekend.

Hope it comes off - see ya.

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

Anyone fancy a BBF mini-bash, weather permmitting, obviously :)

[martine]

I will be @ the fiesta most of the weekend as my wife owns Initially Yours (embroidered clothing) which will have a stand AND I will be manning the Institute of Advanced Motorists stand as well. Pop in to either stand and look for the balding, bearded 40's chap and it might be me!

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

OK, will try to meet up :)

G-CBHX looks like:-

http://www.ballooning.org.uk/pictures/G-CBHX.jpg

(Landing, on its maiden flight :) )

[Martin Barnes]

Bristol EGGD BIA is in much closer to the BF than Filton

A light single costs around £25 landing fee plus Handling by BFC at £5

For a 24hr fully manned GA facility this is a pretty fair price

BIA/BFC welcomes all GA aircraft should you have an queries
or the need to haggle call BFC ops 01275 474601

Jet A1 31p Avgas 92p

[drauk]

I'll likely be making a couple of landings, but £60 versus what I'm guessing would probably be about 35 at Filton is no big deal. Being 24 hour is a big plus. Thanks for this info Martin, looks like I'll probably use BIA now.

[FlyingForFun]

Bristol is open 24hrs, but I suggest you give them a call if you're planning on flying at "unusual" hours. Their GA centre isn't 24hrs, as I discovered when I had to make a weather diversion there - ATC told me I was welcome to land but they didn't know what to do with me once I was on the ground because there was no one around to handle me....

FFF
-----------

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

If anybody whois is going wants to get in touch or get a briefing update, please PM me :)

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

A couple of piccies to whet your appetite -- more to follow :)

http://www.ballooning.org.uk/pictures/glow.jpg

The glow on Thursday night...



http://www.ballooning.org.uk/pictures/bertie.jpg

Bertie Bassett...

[Circuit Basher]

Look's like Bertie's doing something unmentionable to G-CPBW! ;) :)

[newswatcher]

What a pity that one of them thought he was a train, and called at Avonmouth station!! :ooh: :ooh:

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

I wondered how long it was going to be before somebody brought that up :)

It was actually one of the Belgians (no comment), and, as usual, was blown-up (if that's the right expression ;) ) somewhat out of proportion to the actual scale of the incident... :bored: (See numerous other examples on this site for journos soing this...)

[newswatcher]

RTFM, so it was the Belgians! :confused: The BBC reported the Fiesta organisers as saying that the pilot was Rupert Stanley, from London!!

I hope that landing on live rails is not in the ABC Guide to good ballooning! :E

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

Uh, that's what I was told, secondhand, from the debrief team :suspect: -- I will investigate further...

I hope that landing on live rails is not in the ABC Guide to good ballooning

Natch' :\ however, in calm conditions, as we had over the weekend, you can land a balloon in some very small spaces. Not saying that this happened here, of course, but sometimes, from distance, it can look as if you've landed somewhere you haven't...

At least we haven't seen the habitual newspaper headline "Due to light winds, the balloons struggeld to get airbourne..." :*

[radio ears]

It was on the platform stopped all trains for 15 mins Click here for link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3138115.stm)

edited to make the link work......

[drauk]

Most interesting ground-based moment was when a woman proposed to the leader of the parachute display team, over the PA, in front of tens of thousands of people and he said no.

Watching the balloons launch at 6:30am on Saturday made getting up at 5am worth the effort.

[martine]

I went to the fiesta most of the weekend and it was generally a great time - shame given the 'good' weather they only managed to launch 4 / 7 scheduled times - but better safe than sorry.

As far as the balloon landing on Avonmouth station goes - it looked bloody dangerous to me from the photos on the Bristol Evening Post. OK he/she landed on a platform but it was right on the edge and quite rightly they stopped any trains due to pass. The newpaper story for what it's worth explained it was an 'emergency landing' as they were heading towards the Severn estuary but clearly they should have landed elsewhere. It would be nice to know the full story...

Distinct lack of special shapes I thought this year which is disappointing for the crowd.

Why do balloons need 3km viz like light aircraft to fly when they travel soooo slowly? This was the explaination of them abandoning the lauch due on Friday am (that and heading towards Bristol Airport).