The first hot air balloon took to the air in 1783, a full 120 years before the airplane, and in more than 225 years of balloon flying, no free balloon has ever lost a single knot to a headwind. The only purpose for flying a balloon is the pure joy of being free from the Earth. The only planned destination, the sky.
Crew mates
Balloons are 60-foot-high, 60-foot-wide colorful human lures. They are usually besieged by spectators because they are rare enough that watching one fill with air, stand up, and gently lift into the air, or float to a landing, draws a crowd. Pilots treat the spectators nicely since many crew people are recruited from the throng. And it is normal practice to talk to the people around a balloon liftoff. Conversation is usually easy and friendly. It is also common to look down as you fly and discover your crew leading a parade of 15 cars all following you to your landing site.
Balloons have been flown completely solo before, but most pilots prefer a crew of four people, although two is enough. How many you need depends on how well you pick landing spots, how big the balloon is, and how strong you are, among other factors. The crew is a great part of ballooning. They laugh with you and enhance the drive back to the starting point, but they also make you fly with great care.
A social aspect of ballooning is dealing with property owners. You almost always land on someone’s private property. But friction with a landowner is rare. The vast majority of property owners welcome you with beaming smiles while pulling out cameras and cell phones to call all their relatives to say, “You’ll never guess what just happened at my house!”
In the air. The burner on a balloon is loud, perhaps as loud as an aircraft engine, but it is used in only short bursts. Most of the time it is quiet. But be careful what you say as you cruise 1,000 feet over that house with the unkempt lawn, the owner may be able to hear your conversation. There is no sensation of motion, it is almost like you are standing still and the Earth is rotating slowly below you. There is little sensation of climbing or descending and you simply float up and down with the turbulence without feeling the bumps.
Because a balloon floats in the air, there is seldom any feeling of wind. Air flowing against your cheek is a sign of changing flows of wind that a balloon pilot seeks. The breeze tells you where the “steering” is. It means that the airflow at the basket is from a different direction than the wind above, pushing the envelope. Climb or descend a few feet and turn! Memorize the altitude and the changed heading; you use this information to “steer” the balloon.
The FAA says it only requires 10 hours of instruction to get a private pilot certificate with a balloon rating. It takes a bit more time than that; but having said that, it still requires less time and expense than an airplane or rotary rating.
An airplane rating can be a handicap when learning to fly balloons. Nothing about a balloon is familiar to an airplane pilot. There is no control that looks anything like those in any other aircraft. With no wing or powered lifting surface, a balloon doesn’t fly like anything else.
Because a balloon is constantly cooling, straight and level is not a hands-off affair and an unattended descent is not a constant but an ever-steepening curve. Level is more like a slow oscillation, which becomes less with experience. Because of the low forward speed of a balloon, climbs and descents can be nearly vertical. Occasionally a balloon may fly a 3-degree glideslope to a very large hay field, but usually a balloon approach is a stair step.
The burner heats the air near the bottom of the 60-foot envelope, but lift is developed when that hot air reaches the top of the balloon to displace the cooler and denser air in the envelope. It takes several seconds for the heated air to float to the top of the envelope and increase lift. When the pilot initiates a burn to increase lift/altitude, it takes from five to seven seconds for that burn to be effective. Opening the vent and letting out heat at the top of the envelope can put the balloon into an immediate descent, which takes five to seven seconds to fix with another burn.
One of the skills that must be learned is contour flying, low and slow. You are constantly making small climbs and descents to follow the contour of the Earth. Those slight climbs must be planned several seconds before you make them. Going down the other side of a hill is performed by letting the envelope cool, which again requires lead time.
When loading a balloon, the weight goes so close to the center of balance that the flight characteristics are not changed by how you load it. The weight and temperature require computation. The fabric of a balloon has a temperature red line. A balloon’s lift comes from the difference in temperature inside the envelope and the outside air temperature (more correctly the density of hot air compared to colder air). As the OAT increases, the envelope temperature must increase and on a warm day, the fabric red line will be reached long before the gross weight can be lifted. Instead of calculating the balance point, you are calculating weight versus lift versus envelope temperature to determine if you can fly safely. In an airplane, it may be unsafe, but some pilots get away with hauling a load slightly over the gross weight. In a balloon, the weight limit is strictly enforced by the laws of physics.
Airplanes or balloons? There are a couple of advantages for the airplane pilot who learns to fly balloons. The first is a better feel for low-level winds and how they are affected by trees and terrain as well as local features. The second is a much better feel for what is below you.
An airplane pilot chooses an emergency field from altitude and breaks off the engine out simulation at 500 feet and 65 or 70 knots—too fast and too high to get a real look at the field the student has chosen. In a balloon, you choose the field and then continue the descent to six inches and a few knots. You get a real look at what kind of crop and what field conditions you have chosen to land in.
Be prepared to get up early. In some parts of the country balloons can only fly in the morning, in others both morning and evening flights are possible. In the heat of the day, invisible thermals can create updrafts that are too rapid to counter and downdrafts that are too strong to arrest before slamming into the ground. Early-morning atmospheric conditions also generally have better “steering” flows than flights an hour before dusk when the thermals have died.
Learning how to fly a balloon is not as difficult as finding someone to teach you. There aren’t many balloons or many pilots. There isn’t a balloon instructor rating, but every commercial pilot is also an instructor. There are only about a half-dozen Part 141 schools around the country. A commercial balloon pilot can make much more money taking two people for a ride than giving a lesson to a single student. Your lesson will wait for the next flyable day if your instructor has a paying ride. When learning to fly under Part 61, it can take a whole flying season to earn your rating.
Balloons don’t operate from the airport (or not usually) and even in areas with several active balloon pilots, the airport office will probably not know who they are. It is rare for a balloon pilot to advertise; they generally have a waiting list. The good thing about low numbers is that most balloon pilots know each other. If you find one, they can point you to the best instructor in the area. The best sources for information on balloon instruction are the Balloon Federation of America and from the balloon manufacturers who can be found through blastvalve.
Balloons are difficult to rent. There simply aren’t very many of them. Balloon insurance usually only allows a named pilot to fly a balloon, and either student solos are prohibited or there is a large surcharge. Only Part 141 schools routinely rent balloons to student pilots.
Not many people are killed in balloon flying accidents, but quite a few are injured. Many of those accidents are because balloons boldly go where no aircraft has gone before. Almost all balloon landings are off airport. Pilots have to watch for obstacles such as power lines, and they have to learn to use their crews for advance eyes. Many injuries come from crewmembers getting tangled in lines, stepping in holes, or losing their grip on the balloon while handling the aircraft.
Except under high wind conditions, a balloon needs very little room to land. A balloon can easily land in almost any backyard or land crosswise on a road without power lines. A balloon pilot is not without control and there are usually lots of landing places to choose from.
As one ponders the fun of learning a new way to escape the bonds of gravity, remember: no headwinds, no crosswinds, no weight and balance, and always a tailwind.
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