FAQ
For over 200 years on the same principle: hot air is lighter than cold air. A propane burner heats the air in an envelope. It takes about 600m3 of hot air to lift a person.
It is possible to rise to more than 1000 meters if the wind is lacking or to admire a landscape. Every flight is unique.
We can use different currents depending on the altitude and vary the direction, but this is not always possible.
When going ballooning you should dress for a countryside adventure. We recommend sensible shoes or boots, long trousers and sleeves, and also a hat! This will help to protect your head from the heat of the burner. Please keep in mind that it is no colder in the balloon than on the ground, so you don’t always need your big coats in the summer months!
The flight itself lasts around 1 hour, however please allow 3 hours for the whole adventure. It is not an experience to be rushed. This includes your pilot safety briefing, balloon preparation and packing away, the flight itself, a toast after landing and travelling back to the original launch site afterwards.
Ballooning is suitable for young and old alike, but does require a small degree of agility. For safety reasons, is not possible to sit in the basket. All passengers have to standing for approximately one hour during the flight, get in and out of the basket on their own and bend the knees on landing. If this is not the case, please contact us. We have a basket specially designed to accommodate passengers with reduced mobility (PRM). It allows easy entry and exit through an adapted door.
Balloons float with the breeze and will move in the same direction as the air flow. As this airflow usually changes direction with altitude, your pilot can change the height of the balloon in order to steer. Whilst we can make every effort to fly over a castle or determine where we will land in advance, it is all dependent on the wind of your d-day. The balloon returns to its starting point through the air only very exceptionally.
You are wrong ! it is easy to feel dizzy on a scale because it is connected with the ground. In balloon as in plane there is no dizzy. The balloon does not undergo any vibration, it is the preferred aircraft of the cameramen for its stability.
Our balloons have large baskets which carry either 18 passengers at a time. The balloon basket is split into compartments with between two and four people in each so ensure everyone in the basket has enough space to be comfortable. But we also have a small baskets of 2, 4 or 8 passengers, perfects for the private flights.
They are welcome to watch the preparations and the balloon take off. They can also follow our recovery vehicle with their own car to meet you on landing.
The wind at ground or gradient level or the gust speed might have been too strong and outside operational limits. Rain may have been forecast in the area. We cannot fly in rain because it means there will be poor visibility and it also makes the balloon heavier to fly. Thunderstorms or CB (Cumuli Nimbus) clouds may have been forecast. These are dangerous and we would not fly in their vicinity. If yours was a morning flight, the visibility early in the morning during our flight period could have been poorer than later in the day. There may have been a wind direction which would have taken the balloon towards something unsuitable, like a large town or restricted airspace and while the vast majority of our launch sites do have back-up sites, some don’t and those that do might still not have been suitable to fly from. Our pilot’s decision whether to fly is not related to what other balloonists decide. Our pilots consider all the weather factors and make their own decision, always putting your safety first.
Unfortunately, this is not possible. The safety of our passengers is paramount to us, so if the pilot considers the weather conditions to be suitable for the flight, it will go ahead. Our flights take place when the air is stable, with no precipitation and calm winds.
Balloons cannot be steered and every flight is different. We cannot guarantee that we will fly in a particular direction, such as over your favourite castle.
Don’t worry, if your flight is cancelled because of the weather or related factors, you can just book into another date, depending on everyone’s availability. If you are unable to reschedule, nothing will be charged.
You can fly from the age of 6 and as long as you can stand for an hour. If you have heart problems or have recently undergone surgery, we suggest you consult your doctor. Pregnant persons may not board. Hot-air ballooning requires a certain degree of mobility for passengers to get into the basket and also for take-off and landing. However, if your physical condition prevents you from standing up in the basket or moving around on your own, you can flight in an accessible basket, available for people with reduced mobility. It is essential to call us to find out about the person’s physical condition so that we can guide you.
Hot air ballooning in not suitable for dogs or pets. The sound of the burners can be distressing for animals so best to leave them safely at home.
