Originally Posted by
Martin_123
if I could just seize the opportunity and ask something I always wanted to know - maneuverability in balloons - how do you steer one and by how much can you actually change the heading? I understand it generally goes where the wind takes you, but surely if you can make it to an airfield across the Chanel you must have some degree of steering available?
Martin_123 - seize away! As mentioned above by
tmmorris wind gradient is the key. Generally speaking the higher you climb the more the gradient wind speeds up and turns to the right, at least it does in the northern hemisphere, although it isn't always there and can slow down if there's an inversion. One of the fun things is to play these phenomena to achieve your target destination, either for fun or as part of competition. I doubt if there is another air sport that fosters an intense pilot interest in exactly what the layers are doing at a given time. In the Channel it was a pretty constant and our best rate was found at 2100' amsl + or - a couple of hundred feet, but that could have changed with time as the sea breeze kicked in near the coast.
I must correct one misapprehension in your question, however. Flying between airfields is not generally part of our flight planning - that is one of the significant freedoms of the sport. We just need the landowner's permission to use a takeoff field (on the x-channel it was Lydenn Racing Circuit) and again at our landing point, although that permission is a little hard to deny after the event....).
Ripline