hot air balloon drivers
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hot air balloon drivers
Now I know most of you grown ups will laugh but here in the UK the balloon ride industry carrys at least 50,000 pax a season and its pilots and crew whilst subject to many rules and regs frequently stray outside them.
Very often because of commercial pressure.
I think its about time there was a forum here to spread the rumours and chew the fat.
Excuse me if there is a balloon drivers forum and i've not found it yet. Any other balloon types lurking here??
cheers
4sq
Very often because of commercial pressure.
I think its about time there was a forum here to spread the rumours and chew the fat.
Excuse me if there is a balloon drivers forum and i've not found it yet. Any other balloon types lurking here??
cheers
4sq
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good morning,
yesterday I visited a balloon festival with about 40 balloons... and I, too, was amazed at how many pilots "bent" the rules! flying too low, at least 5 pilots handeled their burners without gloves on, not following the given instrutions. It seem like "burner on, brain out". At least 2 were still up in the air after official sunset! One landed at the field where all the public was (he had started elsewhere), let out a passenger, then took-off again!
Whether any of them will get in trouble, I don't know... maybe the member of the authority (who was present) will just reprimand the organisors, close one (or both?) eyes, which is unlikely, and make the rules for next year stricter!! So, in the end, all suffer!!
Westy
yesterday I visited a balloon festival with about 40 balloons... and I, too, was amazed at how many pilots "bent" the rules! flying too low, at least 5 pilots handeled their burners without gloves on, not following the given instrutions. It seem like "burner on, brain out". At least 2 were still up in the air after official sunset! One landed at the field where all the public was (he had started elsewhere), let out a passenger, then took-off again!
Whether any of them will get in trouble, I don't know... maybe the member of the authority (who was present) will just reprimand the organisors, close one (or both?) eyes, which is unlikely, and make the rules for next year stricter!! So, in the end, all suffer!!
Westy
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Well, low flying dropping off passengers, general sillyness, guilty m'lord many times of those sort of digressions.
I was thinking more along the lines of driving from one side of the country to the other to do a flight finishing at 2400 and starting the operation again at 0300 the next morning for a 1100 finish. Re
peat the exercise for more than a week.
Trouble is it is expected that new pilots will do these things an unwritten (cos you can't) rule. Last week I flew next to a very tired young man.
A simple way round would be if the nice man from the CAA you know the one that actually flys balloons not the engineer that has been doing AOC visits and picking up petty points anyhow you know who I mean if he made pilots put on there FTL's where the sectors took place. You can't bend the journey times then.
Anyone seen a Tardis for sale on ebay?
At more than one meet I've heard mutterings about its time we all found a union to join, pilots and crew!!!
I was thinking more along the lines of driving from one side of the country to the other to do a flight finishing at 2400 and starting the operation again at 0300 the next morning for a 1100 finish. Re
peat the exercise for more than a week.
Trouble is it is expected that new pilots will do these things an unwritten (cos you can't) rule. Last week I flew next to a very tired young man.
A simple way round would be if the nice man from the CAA you know the one that actually flys balloons not the engineer that has been doing AOC visits and picking up petty points anyhow you know who I mean if he made pilots put on there FTL's where the sectors took place. You can't bend the journey times then.
Anyone seen a Tardis for sale on ebay?
At more than one meet I've heard mutterings about its time we all found a union to join, pilots and crew!!!
sua cuique voluptas
I'm not a commercial balloon pilot, BTW.
Was that the Northampton Festival you were talking about? The main problem with ballooning vs Air Law is that in many areas the Law is not appropriate for the sport and a few exemptions need to be formulated, not that that is likely to happen any time soon.
Where the 1500' Rule would appear to be being broken, we did have CAA exemption for takeoff from a congested area and the entry selection procedure would have ensured that we all had the necessary May 21st 2002 Display Authorisation. We are supposed to climb as quickly as possible to clear the area, but with 70 other balloons there is a limit to the vertical speed that is safe.
Balloons can be safely flown in approriate conditions in situations that would clearly be lethal for fixed-wing operations and it is *my* view that Rule 5 needs modifying to reflect this. Note that this is NOT advocating the Yahoo Tendancy that some pilots are undoubtable prone to (I seem to recall that f/w pilots are not altogether immune from the disease), just considering what is safe for both us and the public.
As to the example quoted, do you really mean flight at 24:00? Legally you would need a night rating (they do exist) but in practical terms you wouldn't fly passengers in the dark until dawn!
I personally wouldn't fly without gloves, but unless you're changing tanks some might argue that they're optional. It might be unwise, but not illegal.
Well, you did ask if there were any ballooning types around!
Was that the Northampton Festival you were talking about? The main problem with ballooning vs Air Law is that in many areas the Law is not appropriate for the sport and a few exemptions need to be formulated, not that that is likely to happen any time soon.
Where the 1500' Rule would appear to be being broken, we did have CAA exemption for takeoff from a congested area and the entry selection procedure would have ensured that we all had the necessary May 21st 2002 Display Authorisation. We are supposed to climb as quickly as possible to clear the area, but with 70 other balloons there is a limit to the vertical speed that is safe.
Balloons can be safely flown in approriate conditions in situations that would clearly be lethal for fixed-wing operations and it is *my* view that Rule 5 needs modifying to reflect this. Note that this is NOT advocating the Yahoo Tendancy that some pilots are undoubtable prone to (I seem to recall that f/w pilots are not altogether immune from the disease), just considering what is safe for both us and the public.
As to the example quoted, do you really mean flight at 24:00? Legally you would need a night rating (they do exist) but in practical terms you wouldn't fly passengers in the dark until dawn!
I personally wouldn't fly without gloves, but unless you're changing tanks some might argue that they're optional. It might be unwise, but not illegal.
Well, you did ask if there were any ballooning types around!
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Sorry I was a little murky there what I meant was duty finishing at 2400, by the time you get back to base etc. You know what its like if you fly back to back even on a private basis.
Try doing it all week and driving miles in between each sector and you'll know what knackered means!!
Glad to see there are other ballooning types here.....
BTW heard a great rumour today that one CAA type is gunning for another after Northampton, something about low flying over Althorpe.
Did you private chaps here about several ride balloons with different companies all from Camerons that are not performing as they should??
I understand that Lindstrands has admitted that Carringtons produced a duff batch or two and are giving discounts on your next purchase but Camerons are admitting nothing.
No suprise really they are an arragant lot.
Try doing it all week and driving miles in between each sector and you'll know what knackered means!!
Glad to see there are other ballooning types here.....
BTW heard a great rumour today that one CAA type is gunning for another after Northampton, something about low flying over Althorpe.
Did you private chaps here about several ride balloons with different companies all from Camerons that are not performing as they should??
I understand that Lindstrands has admitted that Carringtons produced a duff batch or two and are giving discounts on your next purchase but Camerons are admitting nothing.
No suprise really they are an arragant lot.
sua cuique voluptas
BTW heard a great rumour today that one CAA type is gunning for another after Northampton, something about low flying over Althorpe.
I understand that Lindstrands has admitted that Carringtons produced a duff batch or two and are giving discounts on your next purchase but Camerons are admitting nothing.
I don't fly either a Cameron or a Lindstrand myself, but would merely observe that DC is a thoroughly nice bloke who is still in business while bailing out T&C a few years back when they would have gone to the wall with many job losses. If they were that arrogant they would have stood back and waited rather than letting them in under his umbrella allowing them to preserve their market and individuality. Some might say that was self-interest, but even Lindstrand are only still in business because they had the sense to prise PL's paws off the controls before they went down the same route!
Understand what you mean about the "duty" hours, though. Even Metz gets hard after 3 days of good weather - I generally knock a slot or two off and declare no flying after that - after all, for types like me it's a holiday, not an endurance test. This year I had only family, age range 14 to 86 and only one of them had any experience. A week later I had 6 competant balloon crew all of whom had flown and got their pictures and story in the French regional papers via the APF service!
I suppose I'd better do some work now......
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Yes to be fair Don's a nice chap but its not him you meet day to day when grabbing spares and doing all those bits and pieces.
It was always said that TS was the greatest salesman Thunder and Colt had ;-)
Carringtons are the fabric manufacturer for all UK companies, they went through hard times themselves recently. It is alleged that some of there fabric came through the machines a little overweight so they coated it only once. Not sure if you can technically do that but its what I've heard. Also heard rumours that the first batch of Tartan weave particularly the white was pretty poor.
I'll ask again about the low flying at Northampton and the big estate. I was not there so for once it can't be me in trouble!!
As for the Lindstrands thing does DC not own 60% of it now anyway??
It was always said that TS was the greatest salesman Thunder and Colt had ;-)
Carringtons are the fabric manufacturer for all UK companies, they went through hard times themselves recently. It is alleged that some of there fabric came through the machines a little overweight so they coated it only once. Not sure if you can technically do that but its what I've heard. Also heard rumours that the first batch of Tartan weave particularly the white was pretty poor.
I'll ask again about the low flying at Northampton and the big estate. I was not there so for once it can't be me in trouble!!
As for the Lindstrands thing does DC not own 60% of it now anyway??
