Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon

     Here we are in Sussex, New Brunswick at the Atlantic International Balloon Fiesta. About 30 colourful balloons were there waiting to take flight. We attended on the Friday of the event, the day before post-tropical storm Dorian hit the Maritimes. Even with the impending storm, the weekend event was a success.

     We walked into the event and I noticed a long, long line of people. I asked some people in line what they were waiting for. They said they were waiting for their name to be called. If called, they were the lucky ones who would pay $200 per person (cash only) to ride maybe 30 minutes in one of the balloons. The balloons take flight twice a day.  The best times of the day are just after sunrise and 1 to 2 hours before sunset. At the fiesta, they also had a Magic Night Moon Glow where the tethered balloons are lit up from the flare inside the balloon. Click here.

Click here

Balloon being inflated

An aerial view of the balloon taking off from the field

Some of the first balloons in the air.

More balloons in air with still more coming.

Away they go!

Some are high in the air.  Balloons fly 500 to 1000 feet above the ground.
As you can see from the photo below many fly just above the tree line.

Unique shapes were flying high!

     Balloons are not steered. Pilots can control elevation and are at the mercy of the wind. However, a reasonable course can be executed (some times) by "playing the wind sheers". The wind sheers move in different directions at different altitudes. After a little experimentation, pilots can learn when an air current is going in a desired direction and then plot a course. It is very similar to sailing. (taken from the event program)

Here are the professional photos of my favourite balloons at this year's fiesta:

     One thing I learned was: Ballooning is called the Champagne Sport. It's a tradition that spans two centuries, starting with the first hydrogen gas balloon flight that took place in Paris on August 27,  1783. Professor J.A.C. Charles launched the unmanned, 12 ft. diameter balloon before a crowd in Paris and watched as it rose up into the sky, only to rise so high that the expanding gas tore a hole in its envelope and it fell to the ground in the region of Gonesse. The people of the village, seeing the strange flying craft for the first time, thought it was a "demon from the clouds". As it laid on the ground, emitting a foul odour from the remaining hydrogen sulfide gases escaping from the ripped seam, the villagers called their parish priest to aid in getting rid of the demon beast, and together, attacked the balloon. Upon arriving on the scene, Charles tried to convince the villagers that the beast was in fact a scientific machine, and to relieve their fears, he passed out Champagne -- Champagne that was meant to celebrate the event. To this day, balloonists traditionally carry a bottle of champagne on each flight and at journey's end share a toast with the owner of the property where the balloon has landed. (taken from the event program).

     To watch the balloons in flight click here 

      Here is a summary video of this year's fiesta.

     This event remembers me of the lyrics to a popular 1970's song:

Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly, we can fly
Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
The world's a nicer place in my beautiful balloon
It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon
We can sing a song and sail along the silver sky
For we can fly, we can fly
Up, Up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
Suspended until a twilight canopy
We'll search the clouds for a star to guide us.