Any balloonists here?

[Wade Lippman]

I looked for a ballooning forum, but didn't find anything. Somebody here probably knows about this.

I just read a book "The Last Lecture" about a professor dying of cancer, and his lecture about everything in life.
He says he hired a hot air balloon to take him away from his wedding in Pittsburgh. The wedding lasted longer than expected, so they got a later start than expected. There was no wind, so they just hung over Pittsburgh and it was getting dark. The pilot spotted a large opening and headed for it, only to find there was a train track down the middle, and a train coming. The pilot was terrified that the balloon would get snared in the train and they would be dragged to their death; but he had no choice and went for it. They managed to land and avoid the train. At the end, the pilot grabs a bottle of champagne out of the chase truck and gives it to the author.

I know nothing about ballooning, but it seems to me:

1) The contract would require departure by a safe time regardless of whether the author was ready or not.
2) If there was no wind, and wouldn't be able to reach a safe landing place, they wouldn't do it.
3) There had to be a better option than landing next to a train.
4) The champagne is supposed to be drunk in the balloon, so it wouldn't be in the truck.

No?

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lecture-...e+last+lecture

[Jerome Stanek]

Back when I was younger my sister and her husband owned a balloon and he was a licensed instructor. You go up when there is little to no wind and your basically at the mercy of the wind and area where you land. After the ride is when you break open the champagne. one of the worst obstacles are high tension wires even when you are high above them. They put out a static charge that holds the balloon like when you rub a balloon on your head and stick it to a wall

[Wade Lippman]

Okay, the champagne part was right, but the rest?

http://www.eballoon.org/flights/cham...n-flights.html

[Bert Kemp]

The pilot has control over his decent, he could give it a little boost to keep it up till the train passed. Ballooning over a big city is not a wise place to go up. I watch balloons almost on a daily basis over the outskirts of Phoenix. They have Power lines. city streets, housing developments and cactus lots of cactus to contend with and yet they all seem to land safely each day. They go up in the early morning and again in the late afternoon. I think you read a story that had some drama added to make it interesting.

[Doug Garson]

Not a balloonist but my thoughts are as follows:
1. The balloon pilot has the same responsibility as an airline pilot, ship captain, kayak guide etc. and that is the safety of the passengers regardless of any contract requirements. He or she must make the go no/go decision based on weather and other conditions to ensure a safe trip.
2. The balloon pilot has limited control over where the balloon goes. He/she can make the balloon go up or down by firing the burners or dropping ballast. He/she can have some limited control over which horizontal direction the balloon moves by moving to an elevation where the wind is blowing in the desired direction if that condition exists but no wind equals no way to move horizontally.
3. The balloon has limited fuel on board so it can't stay up indefinitely and landing in the dark is more dangerous than landing in daylight. So how can you say there had to be a better option than landing near a train. If there wasn't enough fuel to stay up overnight and little or no wind to move horizontally to a safer landing sight what other choice would the pilot have? I have to assume there was some wind and the balloon was moving horizontally even if slowly or the only choice available would have been to stay up as long as fuel lasted (and hope the wind picked up and moved you to a safe landing site)or land on whatever is below you. If light was failing and you didn't have enough fuel to last until sunrise, the first option is eliminated.
4. I'd prefer a good craft beer over the traditional champagne.

Again I'm not a balloonist and would be interested in what someone with ballooning experience has to say.

[Kev Williams]

try this (looks to be fairly new) http://hotairballoonist.com/forum/

[Doug Garson]

The pilot has control over his decent, he could give it a little boost to keep it up till the train passed.

Yes he has control over his decent but not his horizontal movement. He can chose where he lands or when he lands not both. So unless he was moving along the track he couldn't wait for the train to pass and still land on the track. Obviously this is a fictional event and there is more we don't know than what we do know but it makes for an interesting discussion.

[Jerome Stanek]

My BIL balloon was what they call a high performance balloon with a resealable vent the other main balloons and side vent that once you vented you were going down

[Ronald Blue]

The champagne is to toast a good flight afterwards. While there might have been a need to land it shouldn't have been so critical they couldn't wait fot the train to pass. Unless there drift was going to carry them past the opening. There are plenty of things that don't add up here. Normally the balloon is inflated for take off just prior to lift off. You would have assessed the wind conditions to see whether it was viable to take off and land. I don't see any competent pilot taking a chance in such conditions. Flying around any large city and not having your conditions assessed to take you away would be dangerous and ill advised. Landing spots would be rare indeed. I think it made for good reading but not much fact involved in the story.

[Jerome Stanek]

no wind doesn't mean no wind it just means there is little breeze and there may be stronger higher up. A calm day is the preferred time to fly

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In my limited experience, the pilot did have some limited control of direction. He changed altitudes to find different air currents to take us in the direction he wanted to go as we chased another balloon. I was shocked at how accurately he could control the elevation of the balloon.

[Aaron Conway]

Can't answer your question but imagine our surprise the first time we were awoken early one morning in our new house, look out the window and see this...

2015-06-04 07.03.20.jpg

[Ronald Blue]

In my limited experience, the pilot did have some limited control of direction. He changed altitudes to find different air currents to take us in the direction he wanted to go as we chased another balloon. I was shocked at how accurately he could control the elevation of the balloon.

Ken you are correct and often the pilot will seek those currents that will carry the balloon in a different direction. I used to be on a chase crew and one of the very first things that we always did was send up a helium filled balloon and watch it's ascent to see how strong and how varied the current might be as it climbed. The newer "high performance" balloons not only had a vent that reseated itself when released but also a steering vent. However the steering vent has limited capabilities. A balloon can climb quickly with a hard burn.

[Mel Fulks]

Always been fascinated by balloons but some of fatalities caught on film are horrific. Don't know what is going to kill me,but I do know I don't want to helplessly see it happen in slow motion!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I began working on oil rigs at age 15. I am scared to death of height but I don't have any problems flying.

Our youngest son and wife sent us to New Zealand for our 40th anniversary and we hot air ballooned in Christchurch. It was an amazing experience. It's so peaceful, quiet and just amazing! We didn't find it frightening at all.