Nothing Could Convince Me to go Ballooning, But I do Like to See Them.

[mawnansmiff]

If I stand on a chair I get dizzy so me doing this will just never happen.

Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2023: Second day in pictures

More than 50 hot-air balloons took part in two mass ascents at the Bristol fiesta on Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk

A few years ago 2 friends went up in a balloon in Egypt, 2 days before the disaster that killed 19 of the 21 occupants!

Regards,

Jay.

 

[AJL67]

If I stand on a chair I get dizzy so me doing this will just never happen.

Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2023: Second day in pictures

More than 50 hot-air balloons took part in two mass ascents at the Bristol fiesta on Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk

A few years ago 2 friends went up in a balloon in Egypt, 2 days before the disaster that killed 19 of the 21 occupants!

Regards,

Jay.

Going to have to pass as well, a while back a friend had a friend of theirs pass, to honor his life a few of them went up in a hot air balloon because the person that passed always wanted to try it, something happened and the balloon ended up hitting power lines and bursted into flames and crashed and killed 3 of the 5 people in it... no thanks.

Personally i don't like to fly or be in the air, i was Air Assault in the army so had a few jumps under my belt and quite a bit of repelling out of choppers, hate being in planes and really hate being in choppers, thought i would conquer the fears by doing it .. haha ... another poor choice.

 

[Kobold]

I see hot air balloons where I live pretty often. One time one came (to me) dangerously close to our house. I too like seeing them but I have no interest in doing it.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

They look cool when there's a bunch but I've never sought out any events.

I would NEVER go up in one, lol.

 

[trouttimes]

I’ve done it several times. It’s a new experience floating in the air. Very different from flying, sky diving or hang gliding. Peaceful when the burner is off.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

The first time i went up in a balloon was when I was 9 years old. It was an experience I "won" for selling the most raffle tickets to my schools summer carnival/picnic.
The feature that made the most indelible impression upon me was the heat from the torch when the throttle was opened up. I didn't expect it - it was quite a surprise.

I've been up two more times as a teenager and young adult, both times in conjunction with the annual Great Balloon Race - one of the many Derby Festival events that lead up to the Kentucky Derby. Really a unique view that's a lot of fun if you're not acrophobic.

 

[autumnfog]

I'm not afraid of much. No phobias regarding spiders, snakes and such.
But heights. Heights scare the living **** out of me.
Balloon rides, not for me. Nor is bungy jumping or mountain climbing.

 

[ukbob]

Been up in one when in Kenya absolutely brilliant, wife’s been up in quite a few.

 

[Elric]

I've been up in one several times (father and uncle are pilots). I never experienced the sensation of height in them. The ride is mellow. Landings less so.

 

[yanoJL]

I did this once, over Sedona AZ. It was an amazing experience. It's not something I would ever get into, like as a hobby. But in some areas, like those replete with natural beauty, I think it's a really cool way to see the sights.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

In a town next to where I was born, they have a huge balloon race every year. Big stuff, bands, and the whole thing.
I went up in one as a kid, just up and down. I was still figuring out that I don’t like heights. Now, I just enjoy them from the ground also.

 

[kcghost]

I really enjoy looking at the balloons when they are aloft, but I have ZERO interest in flying in one.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

Story time:

Frankenmuth, Michigan is a decent weekend getaway that has a brewery, "fried" chicken dinners (think Midwest grandmother cooking with lack of seasoning - I'm not a fan, but they are known for it), cheese, and shopping. They have various events throughout the summer.

I was in Frankenmuth on a small chocolate and wine "cruise" (6 people and the "captain"). A couple was there participating in the hot air balloon races. Turns out, they are money pits that are more of a hobby. You are lucky to break even at races and give rides to others to pay for fuel and storage in hopes of breaking even to get to the next event.

His wife indulged him, he hated running the "circuit" (just chasing his tail to break even), but enjoyed visiting towns. I never would've thought about the mechanics behind the scenes.

 

[mso489]

My wife reports that her balloon ride years ago was entirely pleasant, like floating on air, which it is.

As has been pointed out on this site before, just driving around town and on the expressway is about the most hazardous thing we do, and I don't push my luck much beyond that. Just pulling out of my driveway into a blind curve from the left (I honk every time) is risky enough.

I've done rock climbing, white water rafting, and repelling, as an exercise and thrill, but I didn't find those enticing enough to take me back to them.

I was in the combat zone in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy and anchored in port beside a landing craft ship that had been sunk stern up by a swimmer sapper. We threw concussion grenades off the side at irregular intervals as a defense, and these went off about forty feet from my rack as i tried to sleep before i went back on watch. We also got lit up by combat flares by our own aircraft who, apparently, thought we might be the enemy. Lots of shooting ashore. Such is life.

 

[JOHN72]

I'm deaf as a nuclear submarine lid, and I can't see three on a donkey, how the hell am I going to get on a goddamn balloon. I'm already getting on my nerves on airplanes, I always take a high proof distillate and a blueberry muffin for international travel.

 

[Egg Shen]

I signed up once to do it on a company junket but it was canceled due to an overall lack of interest by the rest of the group. I’m not sure anymore; I have since stopped air travel (airplanes). I’d consider it if it was above wide open country / no power lines. They seem to be too problem-prone for me to generally consider them safe. Same with helicopters. And when things go wrong in the sky there isn’t much in the way of recourse. They look cool whenever there is a whole lot of them though.

 

[sardonicus87]

Heh, I always wanted to try a balloon ride.

I did sky diving once and it was pretty underwhelming. The only fun parts are when the parachute opens and when you're landing. You only get the falling feeling briefly when the 'chute opens. The rest of the time, you don't even feel like you're falling. About 95% of it is kind of boring honestly, or was to me. I think the flying suits could potentially be fun, but I'm not paying and doing boring jumps to get certified so that I could do the flying suit.

Would absolutely go up in a balloon though.

 

[georged]

Did the balloon thing in 1986. As a date with a lovely young lady, in fact.

Everybody aboard survived by sheer luck. Literally. We lost the ability to gain altitude and were slowing coming down... smack dab into an active electrical power station. The wind switched just enough and in the just right direction and at just the right moment that a tossed-overboard rope could be reached by a groundcrew member who'd chased us in a truck, and we semi-crash landed a few dozen yards outside the fenceline of the place.

Start --- Scottsdale Airport

Red Circle --- Pinnacle Peak power station

Yellow Line --- direction of travel

Black X --- where we came down


I have realtime pics in a shoebox somewhere. Will post 'em if I can find 'em.

 

[georged]

Found the box on the 23rd try.

These are in sequence from before liftoff, to floating along, to the last shot which was taken over the edge of the gondola in the final couple seconds of the emergency landing.

It was necessary to come down hard because our natural descent was headed straight for a cholla & saguaro forest (i.e. cactus), and a broken leg or two was by far the preferable injury.

No one did break a bone, though. We just slammed the ground, tipped over, and got dragged maybe 50 feet into some small trees. The pilot and his girl got cut up a bit, but Kim and I walked away without injury.

The pic of her is while airborne. I couldn't resist her look of terrified amusement. She'd also just gotten out of bed---it was about 6:00 in the morning (balloons like cool air)---and didn't want me taking her picture. Which, of course, made me want to.

(We first met 40 years ago this month, and stay in touch to this day. She's one of the finest humans I ever met.)

The red arrows in the next-to-last pic is a wire we missed by twenty feet or so.

 

[renfield]

That’s way closer to that much high voltage than I’d ever want to be. Yikes.