Lindstrand Balloons has a proven and renowned track record of project management, and also boasts the highest available approval rating from the British CAA and the American FAA, and EASA, for the manufacture of lighter-than-air craft! And with the advent of pan-European legislation for balloon maintenance this year, who better to do the checks and walk us through any needed changes than the Managing Director of Lindstrand Balloons himself!?

Due to their high levels of excellence, Lindstrand Balloons make all of our balloons that way ensuring the absolute highest quality aircraft. Then each year their trained inspectors thoroughly check over our fleet of hot air balloons making sure they are up to the British CAA, the American FAA, and the EASA standards. Adventure Balloons have been working as a technical partner with Lindstrand Balloons since they started in 1993, and were in fact one of their first customers.

When Simon Forse the Managing director came to inspect our balloons back in 2009, we were delighted to be told that the burner we’d purchased back in 1993 was in excellent health! Simon was curious to know how many flights it had done since it left the factory and so was obviously more than satisfied when we told him it had flown for 15 seasons with hardly any major replacements! With this he asked if he could put an advert in the UK’s balloon magazine about the burner and of course we were more than happy for him to go ahead! Any publicity’s good publicity right!

So bear in mind that while other balloon operator’s may boast modern equipment, our partnership with Lindstrand Balloons ensures even more than that. Our teams combination of the most modern and the most reliable equipments makes for a ballooning experience you can trust.

For more information about Adventure Balloons or Lindstrand Balloons, please call us on 01252 844222, or simply visit the website where you will find a wealth of information to answer a full range of customer enquiries. For bookings call us on the same number, or simply book online for fast and easy payments and date availability checks.

Hot air ballooning is all about the weather! Being a completely weather dependent activity, specific date bookings can never be guaranteed. So where many of our balloon ride passengers fly on their first attempt, you’ll also find that equally as many will first undergo a few attempts. You will need to have a certain degree of patience when it comes to taking your flight; the more bookings you make the quicker you will get your chance, but worry not, we can safely say that the experience is always worth the wait.

As the UK is positioned on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean it means that traditionally we have low pressure weather systems in the winter and more high pressure systems in the summer. Higher pressure weather normally brings blue skies, light winds and little rain, where as the lower pressure systems tend to bring storms, rain and strong winds. For this reason, hot air ballooning seasons run from April to October and it is thought that the best time to fly is between July and August.

Flights tend to take place at sunrise or sunset as this is when the wind can be a little lighter. For the flight to go ahead, winds must be less than 10 miles an hour during the hour after dawn or before dusk and so careful monitoring is always required! Don’t panic however; we always let our passengers know well in advance. We use forecasts and rely on this information to be able to make the decision to call the flight on, however sometimes this information can be incorrect and so on rare occasions we have to cancel at the launch site.

It is actually very simple to predict if the wind is going to be very light or too strong and often it can be seen some days ahead as high or low pressure weather systems approach. If suitable conditions can be seen ahead, we will text passengers of available spaces and sometimes even put on additional flights.

Visibility is the trickiest to predict and is certainly the main culprit in terms of error in weather forecasts. With various weather conditions such as mist, fog or low cloud being rather subtle and varying from mile to mile, our balloon pilot’s always ensure they access the most up to date information and even rely on local knowledge.

Ballooning in the rain is frankly not an option. When you consider that the top of the balloon reaches nearly 100 degrees Centigrade (the boiling point of water), it will come as no surprise that when the rain falls on the balloon, its cooling effect is sure to have a consequence! If the balloon cools it will descend rapidly and so the pilot has to put in extra heat from the burners to compensate for the heat loss. The whole ordeal is bad for the balloon fabric and makes the balloon much harder to control; what’s more, packing the balloon away while it’s wet is not the greatest idea! So it is basically a case of watching the weather radar closely to see where the showers are forming, where they are tracking and if they are beginning to die away.

As I’m sure you can now gather, there are plenty of weather conditions to be mindful of, so if you’re booking your balloon flight, remember, if it’s cancelled, it’s for your own safety! However your patients will always be rewarded when it comes to hot air ballooning – Adventure Balloons will certainly guarantee you one of the most magical experiences you could ever have.

Are you looking for a new adventure, a challenge, some way of taking your love of the outdoors to a new extreme? Maybe you’re on your travels and are looking for something to keep you busy over the summer holidays or alternatively you’ve just come out of full time education, have finally completed your degree and are now on a quest for new opportunities? Perhaps you just love being outdoors and find all the fresh air helps you sleep at night (not to mention you enjoy the bronze glow it gives you at this time of year). Well what would you say if I told you that we can offer you exactly what you’re looking for and pay you for it?! Sound good? Then read on…

Her at Adventure Balloons we take great pride in offering the best hot air ballooning service across locations Oxfordshire, York, Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, London, Essex, Kent, Sussex, South Hampshire, North Hampshire and Surrey and are always looking to recruit suitable candidates to fulfil our summer ground crew requirements. It is thanks to the seasonal nature of ballooning that we require both full and part time staff to work at our launch sites as ground crew. If you’re available in locations Hartley Wintney, North Hampshire, Hemel Hempstead and Hertfordshire, then this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

We’re looking for the outdoor type, candidates who are physically fit, sociable and well mannered. Ideally new recruits will be competent with minibuses, 4 x 4’s and trailers, plus navigational skills will be advantageous! It is essential that all applicants have 3 years clean licence and are over the age of 25. Plus along with a full UK driving license you will also need to have Categories B+E on your driving license (shown alongside the pictures on the reverse of your photo id license) to enable you to tow our balloon trailers which are generally over 750kg.

So, if you’re available during our season from April to October and are looking for employment, we have vacancies throughout the entire season. Flexibility is a must as we will require you to work weekends and weekday evenings. Our full time recruits can expect a fixed weekly rate plus bonuses and also enjoy the opportunity to take on extra hours for additional pay.

To apply for employment at Adventure Balloons, send your CV to sales@adventureballoons.co.uk.

Are you stuck for ideas on how to entertain your children, or your visitors this summer holiday? Maybe you can’t afford to go away on holiday this year but would like to create a memory for the family, something to get excited about, to talk about back at work or school? Well imagine the exhilaration of a hot air balloon ride? On most people’s ’10 Things to do Before I Die’ list, hot air ballooning will certainly add a sense of fun and adventure to your holiday season, plus you’ll find the build up to the big event almost as intense as the ride!

Adventure Balloons specialise in their wonderful talent of making their customers enjoy their day to the max. Our crew encourages passengers to get involved in the whole process from inflating the balloon to deflating it and we talk you thorough every step. We even reward our customers with a flight certificate, in flight photographs and a wonderful complimentary champagne toast at the end! We have a reputation for friendliness and are frequently complimented on our pilot skills at making the passengers feel comfortable, safe and maximising the fun.

Many people like to gain some kind of insight into what ballooning is like and find that our website is very thorough. We have many in flight photographs for you to view, customer testimonials and in depth write up’s of what to expect. You can even take a look at our ballooning videos which give you the best possible glimpse into hot air ballooning. Take a look at this London flight video for example.

You can make bookings on line, by e-mail or by phone – 01252 844222 and bookings can be made for a variety of different popular locations; Oxford, Reading, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford, Tring, London, Basingstoke, Hartley Wintney, Guildford, Farnham, Godalming, West Meon, Micheldever, Alton, Winchester, Kent, Sussex and Essex.

Enjoy a day to remember with Adventure Balloons – the largest hot air balloon company in the UK since 1985!

Now that ballooning season has finished, you may be thinking that Adventure Balloons will be putting their hot air balloons to sleep for five months and taking a well earned break.  Well, you would be wrong thinking that!  Even though the winter has arrived, Adventure Balloons will still be keeping busy, taking balloons out to do a bit of extra work on the side such as featuring in television adverts and photo shoots, but more importantly, doing routine maintenance checks on all their balloons.

Safety is of paramount importance to all balloon pilots.  Hot air balloon flights are very safe because the balloons are kept in tip-top condition.  As balloon envelopes are made from fabric, rips and snags will occasionally occur, so repairs will need to be made every now and again.  These repairs will be made by a qualified technician and recorded in a balloon log book.  General maintenance, such as cleaning the balloon, will be carried out by pilots and/or ground crew.

At the beginning of the ballooning season, trained inspectors will check every balloon, including its envelope, basket and burner to make sure that the balloon is entirely safe to fly in.   Pre-flight checks will occur before every balloon flight and safety briefings will be given to passengers. 

A hot air balloon flight is a exciting, thrilling experience which will allow you to view beautiful countryside, quaint villages and towns and spectacular architecture from a whole new perspective whilst remaining safe at all times. 

Although the balloon season only lasts for around 7 months of the year (mid March to the end of October) there are still plenty of activities to keep us busy. All of our hot air balloons are maintenance checked and repaired if necessary to ensure safe operation, but sometimes lucky balloons and baskets get the chance to do a bit of work on the side.

Adventure Balloons was contacted be renowned music photographer Paul Heatfield who wanted to hire one of our balloon baskets to do a photo shoot for up and coming band The Leisure Society. We set about finding out what the brief was for the photo shoot and found out that the band has seven members; this was no problem as our balloon baskets can hold up to 16 passengers. We then arranged a suitable day for the band and set about finding a countryside setting with a nice blue sky.

Our balloons have also been featured in television adverts for McCains Chips (3 nuns floating over roof tops) and Sheila’s Wheel Car Insurance, with some of our balloons now contemplating a career in show business.

For more information about The Leisure Society visit www.theleisuresociety.co.uk

Being part of a successful passenger balloon flight company is a joy and a privilege, but with the balloon season fast approaching, all of the balloon equipment must be checked and serviced as part of our safety program. Each balloon and its equipment is checked by trained inspectors, who check everything from the balloon envelope, burners and the balloon baskets to ensure that everything is in tip top shape.

As there was a new European legislation concerning balloon maintenance for 2009, we decided to call our old friend and technical partner Simon Forse to guide us through the changes. Simon is the managing director of Lindstrand Balloons, which make all of our hot air balloons and he helped us through the new legislation and safety checks.

All of the balloons passed with flying colours and are now ready to take passengers on their unforgettable hot air balloon flights throughout the South East of England.

As with any aircraft a hot air balloon requires regular maintenance and repair in order to keep it airworthy. Because a balloon is made of fabric it may occasionally require repairing due to snags and rips.

While most of the maintenance such as cleaning and drying can be performed by the pilot or balloon crew, tasks like sewing and repairing the envelope must be performed by a qualified technician and be recorded in the balloons log book.

To guarantee a long and safe operation, the envelope ought to be kept clean and dry. This prevents the build up of mould and mildew, which can weaken the fabric.

The burners must also be kept clean and tidy to make sure of safe operation. Damaged or leaky fuel hoses and valves must be repaired or replaced.

If a rip or snag is discovered in the envelope fabric, it can either be patched up or the whole panel replaced. Patches are usually glued, taped or stitched on, whereas replacing a whole panel requires the new piece to be sewn in using the appropriate technique, thread and stitch pattern to ensure a strong seam.