Bristol Hot Air Balloons

[Foxbat Flyer]

Went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival at Ashton Court, Bristol to see what turned out to be a great event - despite the over-capacity crowds on Saturday afternoon and evening.

Took far too many to post in this thread, the collection is on Flickr here

An critique and feedback would be very welcome.


Hot Air Ballon 5 by Chris, on Flickr

Hot Air Ballon 10 by Chris, on Flickr

Hot Air Ballon 12 by Chris, on Flickr

Hot Air Ballon 25 by Chris, on Flickr

Hot Air Ballon 39 by Chris, on Flickr

Thanks for looking and for your feedback.

Chris

 

[saglik]

Good set of photos, lovely colours.

 

[gramps]

Good set, missed it this year as we were away but always worth a visit with the camera

 

[lukey1965]

Wonderfully colourful shots, the blue sky helps !!

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

Thanks for all you comments guys, much appreciated. It was a very colourfull day, made all the better with blue sky and early morning sunshine. Well worth the early start.

May well go again next year, but not for the Saturday afternoon/evening session unless they do something about attendance management, it was ridiculously overcrowded by late afternoon.

Chris

 

[Toothie]

That looks like an event worth visiting, I like the one taken as it is getting dark so they glow

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

That looks like an event worth visiting, I like the one taken as it is getting dark so they glow

The night-glow was a handheld shot, too crowded to use a tripod, so it's not the sharpest shot ever, but not bad for an old 7D.

It's an excellent event, although it was a victim of its own success on the Saturday - good weather, free admission (apart from parking fee) resulted in severe overcrowding, the organisers closed the gates and apparently the City was gridlocked due to so many people trying to get there. By contrast, early on the Saturday morning was not too crowded and the light was terrific - even I could take reasonable shots!

Chris

 

[lostsoulal2]

Good coverage of a very colourful event, excellent collection, thanks for sharing .
I especially like that last shot at dusk where you can see the light inside the balloons and No 17 on your Flickr is a very colourful balloon.

As you said a large crowd attended, and equally there appeared to be a large number of balloons, I assume that although they are all crowded together on the ground they are released in sequence to avoid any mid-air collisions?

Do they all manage to get up as some of them just do not look like they would be suitable for flight - i.e No 29 on your Flickr, the Dragon with a square basket on its back?

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

Good coverage of a very colourful event, excellent collection, thanks for sharing .
I especially like that last shot at dusk where you can see the light inside the balloons and No 17 on your Flickr is a very colourful balloon.

As you said a large crowd attended, and equally there appeared to be a large number of balloons, I assume that although they are all crowded together on the ground they are released in sequence to avoid any mid-air collisions?

Do they all manage to get up as some of them just do not look like they would be suitable for flight - i.e No 29 on your Flickr, the Dragon with a square basket on its back?

Thanks for your comments lostsoulal.

The balloons take off in what looks like an informal stream. The trailers all drive into the arena, unpack the envelope and baskets etc.and off they go when they are inflated. It took about 2 hours for about 100 balloons to take off on the Saturday morning, it's a great place to be with a camera, especially when the light was so good.


The dragon balloon did fly on some occasions, on others it remained tethered as did the football trophy and the cube shaped Ricoh. I believe that the special shapes need calmer conditions than the traditional shapes. Years ago, there were a lot more special shapes around, usually sponsored by large companies, I suppose the recession has taken its toll on sponsorship budgets.

It's well worth attending the Bristol event, especially if you can get up early.

Chris

 

[lostsoulal2]

Thanks for your comments lostsoulal.

The balloons take off in what looks like an informal stream. The trailers all drive into the arena, unpack the envelope and baskets etc.and off they go when they are inflated. It took about 2 hours for about 100 balloons to take off on the Saturday morning, it's a great place to be with a camera, especially when the light was so good.


The dragon balloon did fly on some occasions, on others it remained tethered as did the football trophy and the cube shaped Ricoh. I believe that the special shapes need calmer conditions than the traditional shapes. Years ago, there were a lot more special shapes around, usually sponsored by large companies, I suppose the recession has taken its toll on sponsorship budgets.

It's well worth attending the Bristol event, especially if you can get up early.

Chris

Thanks Chris; for the explanation, sounds a bit chaotic and no doubt there is a bit of bumping going on, as it sounds like a free-for-all on take-off..............

Could be a good location to do a time-lapse video of all the balloons taking off over the 2 hours?

Will have to look out for this next year. Roy

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Thanks Chris; for the explanation, sounds a bit chaotic and no doubt there is a bit of bumping going on, as it sounds like a free-for-all on take-off..............

Could be a good location to do a time-lapse video of all the balloons taking off over the 2 hours?

Will have to look out for this next year. Roy

The launch field is a free for all and some get carried away (I had someone gift wrap my car with their balloon last year) but mostly it is in good spirits. Pilots often have spotters to make sure it is clear above before release (even though It is the duty of the pilot above to avoid the one below every little helps). Once off the ground we all travel together (at wind speed) so it is unusual to make contact though with the limited landing areas in Bristol some end up landing on top of deflated balloons!

 

[lostsoulal2]

The launch field is a free for all and some get carried away (I had someone gift wrap my car with their balloon last year) but mostly it is in good spirits. Pilots often have spotters to make sure it is clear above before release (even though It is the duty of the pilot above to avoid the one below every little helps). Once off the ground we all travel together (at wind speed) so it is unusual to make contact though with the limited landing areas in Bristol some end up landing on top of deflated balloons!

Gift wrap the car - unusual insurance claim Had not thought that through about the limited landing areas...............

Guessing; as a different perspective, that pilots/crew may take videos from their balloons ? and that 'drones' are banned from the immediate flying area?

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

The launch field is a free for all and some get carried away (I had someone gift wrap my car with their balloon last year) but mostly it is in good spirits. Pilots often have spotters to make sure it is clear above before release (even though It is the duty of the pilot above to avoid the one below every little helps). Once off the ground we all travel together (at wind speed) so it is unusual to make contact though with the limited landing areas in Bristol some end up landing on top of deflated balloons!

Thanks for the insider's view Brian, it must be quite an experience to take part in a major balloon event like Bristol.

Albuquerque is on my bucket list, not sure if we'll make it, one day maybe.

Chris

 

[Ricardodaforce]

Gift wrap the car - unusual insurance claim Had not thought that through about the limited landing areas...............

Guessing; as a different perspective, that pilots/crew may take videos from their balloons ? and that 'drones' are banned from the immediate flying area?

Depends if the event takes place in controlled airspace.

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Gift wrap the car - unusual insurance claim Had not thought that through about the limited landing areas...............

Guessing; as a different perspective, that pilots/crew may take videos from their balloons ? and that 'drones' are banned from the immediate flying area?

If you look on my 52 you will see a link to a video I shot with my go pro on the balloon at the Tiverton event. Lots of people fly drones around the launch fields of smaller club fly outs (usually it's a balloon pilot, no one minds) but I've never seen one at an event other than at Bristol last year when there was a huge one that was filming from way outside the arena. I think insurance would be required for an event, there are rules about "assemblies" Ricardo would be better informed than me on that one.

 

[lostsoulal2]

If you look on my 52 you will see a link to a video I shot with my go pro on the balloon at the Tiverton event. Lots of people fly drones around the launch fields of smaller club fly outs (usually it's a balloon pilot, no one minds) but I've never seen one at an event other than at Bristol last year when there was a huge one that was filming from way outside the arena. I think insurance would be required for an event, there are rules about "assemblies" Ricardo would be better informed than me on that one.

Found it, interesting that there seems to be a constant amount of adjustments going on during a flight, did not realise the landing process is such a bumpy affair, looked like you brought it down to land at a 45 degree angle to the floor, guess that's to lose speed and come to a halt quicker with the basket on its side, that must be a bit dis-orientating for the passengers. Enjoyed the different perspective and the time-lapse video.

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Found it, interesting that there seems to be a constant amount of adjustments going on during a flight, did not realise the landing process is such a bumpy affair, looked like you brought it down to land at a 45 degree angle to the floor, guess that's to lose speed and come to a halt quicker with the basket on its side, that must be a bit dis-orientating for the passengers. Enjoyed the different perspective and the time-lapse video.

Indeed constant heat loss requires constant reheats and at different rates to achieve level flight, climbs or descents. Wind speed dictates ground speed on landing and in this flight I landed on an upslope and layed the balloon down to bring it to a dead halt. Passengers need to stay in the basket until given permission to leave, if they jumped out I'd go back up! This flight was with my wife so she knows what to expect.

If you check my other you tube videos you will see that sometimes landing can be very gentle indeed.