We are very excited to reveal our latest special shape balloon, the orange! It joins our other special shapes Joycam Lips G-LIPS and Choc Dips G-DIPI. Registered G-CDXW, this Orange-120 was built by Cameron Balloons in 1993 and is in fantastic condition.
So, firstly a bit of history about the balloon. It was originally made for an Italian orange company registered HB-BXL and owned in Switzerland before being brought to the UK in 2009 and re-registered G-CDXW. It has appeared at many international meets, flying, tethering and glowing, including Warstein, Joure, Metz, Israel, Midlands and Bristol. It's a popular shape which we can't wait to display and fly for people to enjoy for many years to come.
Although the balloon looks quite simplistic from the outside, it's very much the opposite inside. Because a third of the balloon is missing due to the flat segment side, it doesn't have a parachute like regular shaped balloons and some other special shapes. Instead there is a Velcro rip panel which must be carefully sealed and locked in place before inflation. When ready for deflation you pull the red line in the basket which opens the locks and rips the panel out. Notice the small green stalk at the top too!
We picked up the balloon on 20th March, the weather was perfect to head back home to Bristol and inflate it, so that's exactly what we did! A secretive tweet reading "15:30 @ Ashton Court #startoftheseason" prompted many of our followers to head up to Ashton Court to find out what was going on.
Hopefully any of you that ventured up enjoyed seeing it. It was inflated on exactly the same patch of grass it had its first ever test inflation on, just 29 years later...
 |  |
 |  |
View more photos here: 20/03/22 - Ashton Court PM
Check out our quick YouTube video below.
Here's some other photos including the 1993 test inflation and a few more recent appearances at the Midlands Air Festival and the Bristol Balloon Fiesta 40th anniversary.
Test inflation photos thanks to Ballooning Pictures UK
The orange will hopefully be inflated again soon so we'll keep everyone updated. Our 2022 event schedule will be released in May; G-LIPS will be flying with some additional static appearances of our other special shapes. We hope to see as many of you there as possible, we have some great events lined up!
More from MJ Ballooning
