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The Complete Guide to Hot Air Ballooning
The honest beginner's handbook to hot air ballooning — what it really costs, what gear you need, how to learn, and whether this hobby fits your life before you spend a dime.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Is Hot Air Ballooning and Why People Love It
Imagine standing in a dew-wet field at 6:15 in the morning, the air cold enough that you can see your breath. The sky is the pale gray of a just-waking world, and in front of you, laid out flat on a tarpaulin, is what looks like a giant, deflated, striped parachute. Your job, along with three other people, is to turn that limp pile of fabric into something that will lift you a thousand feet into the air. This is the start of a hot air balloon flight, and for most people who do this as a hobby, it's the part they end up loving almost as much as the flying itself.
Hot air ballooning is not a sport you do alone. That's the first thing to understand. A typical envelope — which is the proper name for the balloon part — holds between 60,000 and 90,000 cubic feet of hot air, and it weighs around 150 pounds on its own, before you add the basket, the burner, the fuel tanks, and the deflated fabric spread out on the ground. You need a crew to help you unpack it from its trailer bag, lay it out, attach the basket, hold the mouth of the envelope open while the fan blasts cold air into it, and then keep the crown rope steady so the wind doesn't drag the half-inflated balloon across the field. It's a team activity from the