On the 7th July we made our way to Ashton Court for some evening hot air ballooning action. Winds were light in a westerly direction but with enough wind to safely get across the city. It was a Sunday so we were expecting a lot of balloon teams to turn up and heard of one pilot travelling to Bristol from outside our region to hopefully fly as part of a group. It turned out to be a very special evening...
Still feeling tired from our late night trip to Swansea for a night glow on the beach, we arrived at the launch site of Ashton Court the next day. Around ten balloons turned up and we thought that would be about it, but more kept on driving in until we had a total of sixteen in the park. We had never seen Ashton Court bowl so packed!
Just as we thought it couldn't get any better, we were offered a flight in the Wind Beneath My Wings balloon with Rich and Doug. G-BXXG is a Cameron N-105 which was originally built to be sponsored by Milka.
So we all helped set up the balloon by setting the basket up and attaching the flying wires before pulling out the envelope. We were on crown line duty and before we knew it we were up, flying high above Ashton Court mansion with spectacular views across to the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Bristol Harbourside.
The view looking back to the bowl was amazing too, busy with fifteen other teams cold inflating, hot inflating and taking to the skies. Before this evening we had never seen more than twelve balloons in Ashton Court and couldn't believe how lucky we were to be flying on the best slot of the 2019 season.
Around half an hour later we were flying above the city centre at 7kts over SS Great Britain, Lloyds Amphitheatre, Millennium Square, Queen Square and M Shed. You can see from the photos that it was a pretty special night!
We landed in Doynton in a field next to the well-known Talbot Farm after two hours airborne. It was certainly a fantastic flight and there was so much to look at, plus lots of waving to people watching below!
It was brilliant to fly on the best slot of the season and was one of our best flight ever, thanks to Rich and Doug.
Watch the flight video on our YouTube Channel. View more photos.
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