Introduction to Hot Air Balloons

Series Summary

Hot air balloons hold the distinct stature as the oldest successful man-made flight mechanism, dating back to the 1700's. Hot air balloons that are carried by the wind offer passengers the unique bird's eye perspective of the Earth, as well as nearly silent travel and still air, thanks to the balloon's flight assimilation with wind gusts. Today, hot air balloons are a popular hobby and relaxation venture, and civilians interested in taking rides have no difficulties finding qualified service providers. In this free video clip series, our expert will discuss the essentials of hot air ballooning, including detailed information and demonstrations of inflation and deflation techniques, information on the parts of the hot air balloon, and safety tips for novices. Tips on finding qualified balloon ride service providers are included.

Video Transcript

" Hi! Jeff Thomson with Thomson Hot Air Balloon Rides and we are talking today with Expert Village about the areas of balloon flying. There are basically four different areas of balloon flying commercial or corporate ballooning, recreational sport ballooning, competition ballooning and ballooning as a business as in passenger flights. I personally do the passenger flying and I do the competition balloon flying but we will talk first about commercial ballooning. Many of you that have been to a balloon event or a competition at some places have seen the corporate balloons, the Pepsi balloons, the Tony The Tiger balloons many different corporations sponsor balloons to represent their company because a balloon is a very impressionable item, people see the balloon and they remember for a long time and it actually has a real festive atmosphere to it, so it is a great promotional tool. Sport ballooning or recreational ballooning there are many pilots around the country that go out on the weekends and fly their balloon just like people go out camping or recreational use or canoing or bicycling, there are many pilots around the country that are sport balloonist that go out and fly for fun of it. There are also serious competition balloon pilots, pilots that use their skill to fly the balloons in different layers of wind to navigate to a series of targets on the ground and there are many competition events around the United States all over the country commuting in the US national balloon championships every year. Then there are businesses that fly balloons for passenger flights which is what I do here in the Orlando area where we go out daily and take passengers for flying in our balloons as a sightseeing tour. I am Jeff Thomson and this is Expert Village."