TCDS and Manual updates
Diamond Balloons UK TCDS. UK.TC.BA.00072 went to Iss3 on 09.05.2024. Sneaking in the back door the Kubicek Flight Manual went to B3102 Iss18 and the Maintenance Manual B3202 to Iss09. Both changed on 09.10.2024. That’s it for now.
Despite notes being sent it seems that Ultramagic is still a mystery TCDS as far as the CAA listing is concerned appearing near the bottom simply as ‘UK.TC.BA.00088 Issue 1 (PDF document) ‘ Of course we all know who they are!
On the confrontational front, despite EASA suspending many TCDSs associated with Russia the UK TCDS Balloons lists a company called Aeronautical Center Augur Ltd along with TCDS EASA.BA.007 for their Tethered Gas Balloon AL-30. On the EASA site this TCDS has the words ‘SUSPENDED’ in red diagonally across it. Not so in the UK? Fortunately the odd couple of Russian built balloons in the UK are classed as Non Part21.
Still lurkin – Licensing looking better
After the long long political struggles it appears that a fair amount of the worries of the coming of the new licence and requirements have been addressed at one level or another. The response from the CAA has been largely positive however that has happened before! A full statement will, we trust, be forthcoming from the BBAC. The CAA’s response is published elsewhere as a stand alone piece which is wonderfully CAA blurb-it and full of acronyms, but it does seem that the change-over will be 30th September 2025, a daft date considering that ballooning will hopefully be in full swing, providing there are no hold ups and Putin doesn’t nuke us. December was suggested. That would be a shame after all the hard work. Briefly, holders of the UK PPL will be able to keep their licence and not need to convert if they don’t want to. There will no charges for conversion! The totally unacceptable requirement for the appointment of ‘Restricted Instructor Rating’ seems have been dropped, which if honoured, means that all training flights will not have to be with Instructors but the old system will remain in place. It also seems there is a good chance that a Declared Training Organisation will ot necessarily need to be operated but that the current BBAC system will stay in place with a few tweaks (no doubt). What does make me laugh is the CAA’s latest buzzword. We have ‘Stakeholder’ and now we have ‘Fall Off’ which I think means gone away or now not applicable. Of course it also relates to perches. Let’s hope we don’t have to fall off anymore.
Winding down at Easy Balloons
There is a lot going on at the moment about the slow down of UK ballooning. Seems there are getting less and less balloons, less and less pilots and less and less flying. No longer do we see a gaggle of balloons floating on the breeze, even on a perfect summer’s evening. Round here, apart from the local Virgin Balloon that’s about it. Even the BBAC are seeing a steady decrease in membership, mainly from folk retiring and no one taking their place. As a result there are a few bits in this years that follow that train of thought.
For us this means a decrease in work. Not yet a problem but with John now looking after his good lady and me managing to break bones and having many more things I need and want to do, things are changing on the workshop front. At the moment envelope repairs ae somewhat pending and we are sending stuff down to Pete Bish. Hardware repairs are on hold for another month as there is only so much that one can do with one arm at the moment. Hopefully things will change in the New Year and we will be back up to speed early next year. The main change is that we no longer carry out repairs to big ride balloons. When, and if, John is about we could do repairs to the mouth and first few panels up but all heaving about would have to be done by the owner. Stormin Normin the forklift is still trundling about but over the winter we are going to ave to try and get the wheels off and change the tyres which are rather worn out! Be nice to get the brakes working whilst we are at it.
Easy Balloons Ltd is still fine as that involves a lot of paperwork, perfect when its pouring down outside, and processing stuff from our lovely inspectors. We also get a lot of enquires and requests to sort out Export CofAs and Initial Applications which we are happy to do. No change for the foreseeable. Despite this we have got a bit behind with invoicing so if you haven’t your expected bill please let us know and if you have received one dating back a bit and have paid it thank you very much. Much appreciated. I think we have now got through almost all outstanding ones so should be in front of the curve now (very 1980s talk there).
All change on the ride balloon front
Huge welcome to two new Ride Operators to Easy Balloons. Chris Monk Ballooning, husband and wife team flying exclusives from close to Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor, pretty cool we reckon. Website at https://www.chrismonkballooning.co.uk/flights Also Rob Schwab’s Fly Navy Balloon operating from near to Yeovil but covering Bristol down to Plymouth and again flying exclusives. His site is at https://www.flynavyballoon.co.uk/. Full details on the Balloon Flights and Ride Operators’ page.
In the realm of the bigger operators, not that there are that many anymore, rumour has it that Broadland Balloons has been sold to Virgin Balloon Flights. Further south Mike Spice has retired and sold Kent Balloons to Skyview Ballooning. Website remains as https://www.kentballooning.com/
Kubicek UK on the move
News in from the ever moving Doug Hoddinot, the UK’s Kubicek representative, an interesting name, Hoddinott, dating back to the Normans, reports that he has changed his address yet again but this time its intended to be much more permanent! From 2nd December 2024 they will be based at the following address: Nova Balloon Services Ltd., Access House, Winterstoke Road BS3 2LG. His new premises will home the office and incorporate a large storage unit. All Correspondence, Packages and Pallets will now be accepted in one secure location. It doesn’t stop there. Particularly for Larger Balloon orders they now have Forklift capability and a team on site to assist unloading. The only things they will not be able to accept are full, pressurised Gas Cylinders (with Flammable or Non Flammable contents) so they will need to be completely purged.
Standard office opening times times for visiting will be 09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday. Visits outside of these times are welcome but he will need to know in advance. In cases of emergency please use the mobile number. On the Ballooning side, once settled into the new office and now with much more space, they will be looking at improving post sales services and carry a significant stock of new and used Kubicek spares for Next Day deliveries within the UK. On the less known Inflatable side it will allow them to hold much more stock for quicker turnarounds and they will be increasing their Hire fleet of Inflatables, currently 108.
Since going full time in early 2022 (post covid) to the new premises Doug’s journey from a single co-working desk and a garage has grown to where it is today and he says, “Whether you have been a customer, supplier, ear, or the one to get me out of last minute trouble, thank you. We can only imagine what 2025 will bring”.
Kubicek UK’s website is at https://kubicekballoons.co.uk/. Contact Doug Hoddinot via email doug@Kubicekballoons.net or +44 7891 585503.
Looming crisis!
Following an impromptu after work meeting at the workshop with Pete Bish we got round to discussing the now very noticeable direction ballooning was now taking, mainly a cold descent. There has, we agreed, been a drop in the number of balloons and pilots, especially in recent years. The reasons vary but a lot is to do with far more ‘older’ pilots retiring and few new pilots coming in. This is an inescapable fact. With the opportunity to buy a balloon ride there is now no need to go crewing to get a flight with the likelihood that more than a few would have gone onto getting a licence. Add to this the much lower number of hours that are flown by private balloons each year which just adds to the fact that we have both seen a huge downturn in the business of repairing and maintaining balloons. Naturally this moved onto the problem of the simple fact that neither of us are going to be doing this forever and what would the future hold for balloonists as far as airworthiness was concerned? Following this thread Pete (well probably Celia) wrote a short piece that went into The Zebedee List a few months ago. Herewith is our take on things;
It has been noticeable over the past couple of years the increased pressure at Zebedee and Easy Balloons for maintenance – be it envelope repairs, burner overhauls or PRV/PPT for cylinders. Both organisations are in ‘wind down’ mode, yet the pressure continues unabated for work particularly at this time of year. One of the reasons is undoubtedly the ever increasing numbers of Ultramagics & Kubiceks being imported to the UK – their owners then realising that Igualada and Brno are not just down the road for a quick repair – or spare part and even Oswestry now lacks a current manufacturer, Not everyone wants to head to Bristol …..
With this in mind, if you buy from the mainland of Europe then be sure to get a decent ‘spares package’ with your balloon including a few metres of all the fabric colours & Nomex. We at Zebedee stock most ripstop & Hyperlast colours from Cameron and have a few metres of some lightweight colours.
Finally some of you technical minded youngsters out there might want to think about setting up a maintenance business, especially in Southern England. Chris & I have tried to cover this market for many years, but remember everything has to have an ending and we are getting old!
First move would be to join the BBAC Inspector Training System for a ‘Part 66’ licence.
For envelope repairs you need a twin needle sewing machine and somebody who can sew … and a dry, secure & vermin free workshop. For hardware an engineering background is preferable so you know your metrics from Imperials and BSPs from NPTs. Don’t feel you would be treading on our toes. Both of us are likely to give you advice, contacts and in the end help with machinery and/or materials.
Aerotegrity – from balloons to spacecraft.
Following on from our concerns for the future a bright new thing has appeared in the CAA Combined Airworthiness Organisations listings, UK.CAO.1036. Unfortunately, at the moment, all we can say is that Aerotegrity Ltd is a CAO formed by Directors Paul Spellward (ex Chairman BBAC), Philip Howarth (ex Chairman BBAC), Piers Glydon and Lee Hooper and incorporated on 8th April 2024, listed as ‘33160 – Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft’.Their website, <https://aerotegrity.com/>, is sadly unassailable in that all you can find is their logo and the words ‘Protected: Combined Airworthiness…Simplified.’ If you want to see what they offer under the three headings; Combined Airworthiness…Simplified, About Engineers Resources and Privacy Terms and conditions, you need to enter a password. Clearly it is ‘Password Protected’.That’s it, no contact details or how to get a password is there. There is though a WordPress page in preparation the author being ‘Philip’ which simply says ‘Hello world!’. https://aerotegrity.com/author/philip/
Delving a little deeper they have also set up a Training Organisation GBR.DTO.0362 ahead of the new licensing requirements to train and provide seminars for Private and Commercial Pilots, Instructors and Examiners…This is how the CAA listing reads; BPL(B), CE(B) Gas, CE(B) Group B, CE(B) Group C, CE(B) Group D, FI(B), FI(B) Seminars, FE(B), FE(B) Seminars, Tethered Extension (B), Night Rating (B). We wish them all the best.
BBAC Inspector’s Freebie Day – Open to all
Following on the following from shock horror shortage of inspectors, the British Balloon and Airship Club’s Inspector Day has been re-vamped and re-arranged. First off that was a bit non-PC as ‘inspectors’ are now called ‘Engineers’ so its an ‘Engineer’s Symposium’. Glad to have got that sorted. Anyway up a slippery slope, this was to have been held on Saturday 26th October 2024 but as a result of a very low take-up (8-10 apparently) it has now been re-scheduled for Saturday 15th February 2025 at Green Norton Community Hall, Towcester Road, Greens Norton, Towcester NN12 8BL. This translates to ‘paddlers, slippers, shampoo’ for users of the marvellous What3words
Start time is 0900 for a 0930 start.
Now here’s the thing. There is no charge-as in buckshee. The day is open to all-comers whether BBAC members or not, inspectors or not and attendees will get a morning coffee break, buffet type lunch (sarnies) and an afternoon tea break.
There you go. Find out for free all about becoming a balloon inspector (sorry Part-66 Engineer), have a chat with current inspectors and get some tea, coffee and lunch chucked in.
To register please contact the BBAC Chief Technical Officer at cto@bbac.org
Diamond Balloons Approvals
It would appear that at Issue 3 Diamond Balloons have at last got their ‘P’, ‘S’ series and Character Series balloons onto the TCDS. The ‘P’ series is a range of 16 gore envelopes from 50-120,000 cu ft and the ‘S’ series, 24 gore envelopes, from 77-120,000 cu ft. The Character Series balloons are 48,000 cu ft. At present the P50 (added 10.07.23.), S-120 (added 09.05.2024) and Alien 48 (added 10.01.2024.) are listed.
New Beginnings is back – bigger and better for 2025
The trend to attract a ‘younger’ (under 60 haha) generation to the joys of ballooning is returning with gusto in the Midlands. Stephanie Bareford’s (young person) popular New Beginnings Meet, not run for a couple of years, has now combined with ‘Pilot Pete’s Flying Legacy Charity’ with the intention of running a weekend dedicated those interested in all forms and levels of ballooning from crewing to learning to fly.
During non-flying periods talks and discussions will be held on related subjects by pilots, instructors, inspectors and examiners. It’s not been on the event’s calendar for a few years now. Their mission this time round is to reignite the spark for all of those who are interested in ballooning in general, whether it be to crew, learn to fly, from engineering backgrounds or simply come along to see what it’s all about. Their ultimate aim is to inspire new pilots into the UK ballooning scene, that’s what Pilot Peter was all about. especially bearing in mind the present state of ballooning, is to re-ignite the spark for all those who are interested. The date is yet to decided but it is intended that it will be held in Kidderminster.
Pilot Pete’s Flying Legacy Charity was founded following the tragic death of Peter Gregory on 25 June 2023 in a ballooning accident. The charity is dedicated to creating and expanding opportunities for new aviators in the world of hot air ballooning and beyond. To find out more see https://www.instagram.com/pilotpetesflyinglegacy/ and on Facebook
FlyDOO launch brilliant balloon simulator
Microsoft has now released Flight Simulator 2024, a state of the art hyper realistic game. Amongst all sorts of stuff you can now fly a FlyDOO hot air balloon anywhere in the world! After several months of hard work with the developer, teams at ASOBO STUDIO and Microsoft, FlyDOO are pleased to announce the release of highly realistic balloon flying using their very unique steerable FlyDOO! The entire ballooning community can now take advantage of a new incredible tool both for fun, for promotion of the sport and as an additional tool in combination with real flight training for new pilots ! The realism featured is just amazing, all of you need to test it asap, winter and bad weather are coming (in the real world only).
There are quite a lot of flying machines to choose from apart from the FlyDOO. Check out the website at https://www.flightsimulator.com/ For a great bit of fun FlyDOO have a tool to se that can design an envelope (pattern/colourwise). Its brilliant and even I can use it . Big help for home builders and modellers alike. You can spin your design around and check it at all angles. Something to do when Come Dancing is on! https://www.flydoo.fun/
Step sideways Cameron’s design page
Happened to be checking current Service Bulletins and the like on the Cameron website and, to be fair, they too have a pretty interactive design sheet which can waste a bit of time.
https://www.cameronballoons.co.uk/skysketcher
Laser Attacks on the rise
In October the CAA issued an update relating to Laser attacks on aircraft, including ground staff and vehicles. We do know of a couple of pilots who have had lasers pointed at them when landing later in the day. Although daylight attacks have far less impact they are still illegal and should be reported. The publication from the CAA Publication Notification Service is entitled ‘Laser Attacks CRM:001161000654676 SN-2020/017 Version 3: Laser Attacks’. Details below.
Version 3: This Safety Notice has been amended to update industry with the latest information concerning laser attacks and their reporting and to reinforce earlier advice concerning actions to be taken during and after an attack by lasers….view SN-2020/017 Version 3. https://www.caa.co.uk/our-work/publications/documents/content/sn-2020-017v3/
Bollix statement of the year award 2024
We’ll have to make this an annual competition. The posting of notices by the CAA and EASA that make absolutely no sense to anyone outside of such secret societies always makefor entertaining reading. How about this one from EASA?
Please note that Measurement of the RP4 S(K)PI and SPI in the SES Performance
and Charging Scheme (A) Explanatory Note ‘Measurement of the RP4 S(K)PI and SPI
in the SES Performance and Charging Scheme (A) Explanatory Note’ is now open for
consultation on the EASA website. To place comments, please use the automated Comment-Response Tool (CRT) available at http://hub.easa.europa.eu/crt/
The deadline for submission of comments is *23 Feb 2024*. Thank you for your interest in and contribution to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s rulemaking activities.
Wishing to have a break from licensing I looked it up. Quite straightforward really. Silly me. It seems the consultation concerns Guidance Material for the implementation and measurement of the safety key performance indicator (SKPI) and safety performance indicators (SPIs) during the Fourth Reference Period (RP4) of the SES ATM Performance and Charging Scheme (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317 The focus is around the draft RP4 S(K)PI Guidance Material and providing technical material regarding the implementation and measurement of the SKPI at the level of air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and Network Manager (NM) and the SPIs at both the State and ANSP level. Blinding.