Hot Air Balloons Rising at Dawn

I never like getting up early in the morning, but today is different. I have booked a hot air balloon ride and I'm required to be up at the crack of dawn to be at the centre for the launch. I travelled to the balloon centre, driving while still dark and while the rest of England sleeps under a full moon. I eventually arrive at the balloon centre and start to meet up with the other intrepid passengers for our flight.

The balloon centre is one of the best in the UK, and needless to say, I'm definitely a virgin balloonist today. The centre has a very good safety record, and you can also imagine that, being part of the virgin group, it is well-funded and the pilots are well-trained and very good all round.

The flight consists of a safety brief and an outline of where today's flight might take you, as the balloon is very much in the hands of the prevailing wind. The skill of the pilot can make the difference by knowing that wind travels in different directions at different altitudes. A skilled pilot can make the hot air balloon travel in almost the direction he or she wants, providing there is sufficient fuel to raise and lower the balloon.

The hot air balloon is made up of three main components: the basket, the burner and the envelope. This balloon holds quite a few people in the basket, so it is absolutely massive and you get to help out and unravel it. One of the great things about this sport is that you are invited to help out in getting the balloon launched and folded back up again when you land.

The weather for today is absolutely perfect. The sun can be seen just making its appearance over the horizon, and the temperature, although a little chilly, is not too bad at all; however, this is at ground level. When the balloon gets up into the air, it can be very chilly indeed. Most balloon companies provide very good information on what to wear and bring, the main item being a woolly hat, as you need to protect your head from the cold.

After the safety briefing and a good cup of tea, the balloon team and pilot instruct you in how to roll out the balloon and help out with the start of the inflating. The balloons are pumped with cold air to start with in order to start to fill the envelope before the burner is used on its side to heat up the cold air inside the balloon.

Eventually, the balance point is reached where the balloon goes from being on its side to being upright. The basket is tethered to the ground to enable the so-called "easy access" to it as you climb on board. The team and pilot judge how much burner is required to reach a point where the balloon is ready to lift off.

The balloon is then untied carefully by the ground crew, and the burner is used in small bursts to bring the craft off the ground and rise slowly into the air. With a cheer, we, the passengers, gasp as the ground slowly moves away from us, and as the burner goes off, we gently rise.

At this time in the morning, there is not that much activity, and you get to drift over the land in a very quiet, peaceful manner as the world below wakes up from its slumber. Hot air balloons are flown very early in the morning or just around sunset in the evening, as these are the times that the air is most still across the land.

During the day, there is too much thermal air movement, and this can cause the balloon to be very unstable and dangerous. We had an excellent flight, and we were tracked across the land using GPS. This helps the ground crew catch up with balloon when it lands.

Hot air balloons have an agreement with the National Farmers' Union for landing fees, and that saves us from the farmers being unfriendly with us landing in the fields. Most of the time, farmers are quite acceptable with us landing, and most pilots always take a bottle of something to smooth the transaction.

Landing is the only part that you get a little bit more apprehensive about, as depending on fuel and the surrounding area, you sometimes feel that you are going to land with a big bump, and sometimes you're not; it's down to the skill of the pilot.

Luckily for us, we had a very good pilot that landed us upright and then pulled the inner cord that releases part of the envelope on top to let out the hot air, and then down comes the envelope. Everyone helps to fold up the envelope, and the ground team arrive to take everyone back to the centre for a cup of tea and biscuits. Hot air ballooning is a fantastic day out, and I could recommend it to anyone who does not have a fear of heights. Also, coming up in August, the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, one of the top weekends in the country, has lots of fun at the fair, stalls and magic balloon flights.