Ballooning 
Late Nights at Sackville – All Annexed Out?
By the time you are reading this Tim Wilkinson of Grass Roots fame will have most likely finished his third envelope having rebuilt G-BLCH an eight gore T&C thing and a couple of all new Airtours the company originally set up by Bob Poole and Carol and Bob Howes. Anyway down a few hundred yards… Read More ›
Bath and Balloons – Bath Balloon Fiesta 2015
There aren’t many places that are as inspiring as Bath. The architecture and history of the place is fantastic and the opportunity to fly from one of the parks or from in front of the beautiful Royal Crescent makes the Bath Balloon Fiesta one that shouldn’t be missed. This year they managed a couple of… Read More ›
EASA Part M ‘Light’ Meeting – Cologne 28-29 April 2015
As EASA struggle to convince us all that they are going to do something about the sledgehammer rules and regulations which they have decided should be applied to the somewhat delicate balloon Don Cameron is stalwartly continuing to bring pressure to bear on those that shrug and gesticulate, on occasions being rewarded with criticism for… Read More ›
How ‘Light’ will it get? – Are EASA’s promises all mouth and no trousers?
Yes, probably. We regularly bang on and post up stuff from EASA’s deep, deep pit of the inevitable along with the promises of Patrick Ky, its captain, but, and it probably is a big but, they are now making noises about relaxing the nonsense they had previously thought was good for General Aviation. Having brought… Read More ›
Something for the weekend sir? – Cameron Skyhopper, the gentleman’s tipple
Now pardon me for I nearly started this as an almost nifty swiftly debunkle of the original Cameron Skyhopper but after a bit of thought and consideration that is really not the case at all, in fact its an almost ‘what, if, but’ appraisal. Trouble is I have the memory of disappointment of the first… Read More ›
Man Overboard – Parachuting from Balloons
Ask any balloon pilot who has chucked a balloonist out of the basket and they will all tell you that it isn’t like it is in films. The parachutist vanishes very rapidly then gives you a heart attack as they appear to fall forever before the smudge on their back cracks into a canopy. We’ve… Read More ›
The 2015 Icicle Melts – end of an era?
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later as all good things eventually come to an end so it was that on Sunday 4th January 2015 during the prize-giving at the end of this year’s 43rd Icicle Meet Pete Bish on behalf of the Dante Group called time on this much-loved meet. I have… Read More ›
Light is right – The Hot Tom and the Barker Burner
Now not many people know this but the Hot Tom was actually originally designed by David Barker (the former British Balloon & Airship Club’s Chief Technical Officer) back in 1977. In fact it was as a result of making his first burner and the interest taken in it by Dick Wirth of Thunder Balloons that… Read More ›
What is it all about? – Training for the Initial Base and Line Check
There is a future for commercial balloon pilots, especially those that hold a UK CPL. It is widely accepted that holders of it have been trained to the highest standard and indeed many overseas operations model their operations on the UK system. The other point is that, like it or not, many commercial pilots are… Read More ›
From the Horse’s mouth – Rob Cross on The Sackville experience
This year’s seventh (yes seven!) annual Ultramagic UK Grass Roots Balloon Meet got off to a great start when we were able to call it on the first scheduled weekend. The forecast was kind and the synoptic situation leading to the weekend of 5-7 September kept improving. Tim Wilkinson and family at Sackville were kindly… Read More ›