I, personally, prefer terra firma. No desire to fly like a bird, nor sink like a whale shit.
Nothing Could Convince Me to go Ballooning, But I do Like to See Them.
- Thread starter mawnansmiff
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I cannot think of hot air ballooning without thinking of Norm MacDonald clowning it on Dennis Miller's radio show:
edit: as an aside, for Norm fans, this entire video is a real treasure trove of Norm goodness. His take on Dog the Bounty Hunter and his attempt at "ventriloquism" are hilarious.
edit: as an aside, for Norm fans, this entire video is a real treasure trove of Norm goodness. His take on Dog the Bounty Hunter and his attempt at "ventriloquism" are hilarious.
How about flying in a lawnchair with helium balloons...and a BB gun to shoot them when you want to come down?
IN Cappadocia, Turkey they have a thing for flying hot air balloons. It's something like wake up at 4 o clock in the morning, pay a dump load of money, but hey .. it's all worth it. The view ... well, one can get similar views from tall buildings, or other flying implements, but the silence is something that one takes away from the experience. Aside from the every so often contraption they use to pump flamming gas in the balloon that makes a specific noise, all is dead quiet ... so I guess that's how an eagle feels, huh? It's quite an industry let me tell you, EUR 100 per individual, times 10 per baloon, times 50 balloons at at time (that's an estimate, i didn't really count), times 30 days a month ... go figure.
I think they're pretty. I love seeing them in the sky. I think I'd go on one if the price was reasonable and I had the chance. But it's not something I'm actively seeking.
You just reminded me of something that happened about 30 years ago.
I was living on a remote farm and was watering plants in one of my polytunnels and kept hearing a whooshing/roaring sound. I came out of the tunnel and looked around but nothing. This went on for quite a while but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what is was.
About 3 hours later the missus asked me if I saw the low flying balloon that passed over the farm a while ago, all made sense then
.Regards,
Jay.
I always wanted to go the balloon festival in New Mexico. No way in hell I'm going up in a balloon tho heights terrify me.
I've flown in small basket hot air balloons 3 tmes, 2 seater Cessna prop planes, Army and Air Force helicopters, military C-130's turbo-prop planes, small Lear Jets, and many different size commercial passenger prop and jet planes. My favorite form of flying is the hot air balloons (the amazing silence while floating over terrain is a real unique experience). My 2nd favorite method of flying is in helicopters, with small Lear Jets a close toss up to helicopters. My only scary flying experience occurred flying in a commercial passenger jet between Baton Rouge, LA. and Houston, TX. due to a plane shaking long rough patch of turbulence.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.
baloons
At one time my sister’s boyfriend’s father was a hot air balloon pilot. He had his own balloon and business and a corporate sponsorship to fly a balloon for a champagne company in events at ballon festivals. Sometimes when he had room we would go up in flights. It is a very different experience, very peaceful. This was a in an area where weather patterns were generally pleasant and predictable. Also, not too heavily developed at the time.
To paraphrase the late author Corey Ford, ballooning is a thrill that comes once in a lifetime...usually right at the end!
I was on my porch swing this morning, some person comes flying above me with a parachute with a big attic fan attached to the back, propelling him. I have to say it looked grande. But if that fan were to fail, and he had to glide it in, he’s in high-voltage power line central.
Back when I was in the experience building phase of my career, I flew a jump plane for a skydiving operation. One of the jumpers had a small hot air balloon, and I can remember how obsessed all of them got about jumping from the balloon. Seemed to last most of the summer. They all agreed that the reason was that it was different from jumping from any other vehicle or object. When you jump from a plane or helo, you're immediately in the wind, so you never really feel like you're falling. Even the base jumper types said there's almost always a decent wind blowing when you jump a bridge etc. But because the balloon drifts with the wind, it's dead calm and silent as you jump, and then the wind builds as you accelerate, so it really DOES feel like you just fell from a very high place.
Fun if you're into that, I guess?
Fun if you're into that, I guess?
The big days in Albuquerque, NM centers around hot air balloons. Huge spectacle, worth a detour! I took my younger sister up there, though not during the festival. Also Balloned in The Sacramento Valley, very nice. And somewhere in NJ, so long ago can't recall anything. All 3-5 sized baskets.
Fun, and lovely, floating slowly by buildings and mountains. They stayed away from high powered utility lines, thank heavens.
I'd go again in a new place to see the sights and experience the quiet, the sense of floating.
Fun, and lovely, floating slowly by buildings and mountains. They stayed away from high powered utility lines, thank heavens.
I'd go again in a new place to see the sights and experience the quiet, the sense of floating.