Today we helped our friends at Bristol Balloon Collectors inflate three of their old envelopes at Ashton Court; Auto Bild, Asda and G-BTWJ. Another two balloons also joined us in the park for a tether ahead of the 2025 flying season!
A 6:50am alarm call on a Sunday morning could only mean one thing, no, we weren't going somewhere exotic on holiday, much better than that, we were heading to our spiritual home of Ashton Court to do some February ballooning! It was cold, but thankfully not as cold as Icicle last month when it was snowing.
First up, balloon number one of three, was Auto Bild D-OBWG, a Cameron N-145 built for a German motoring magazine many years ago. It was donated to Bristol Balloon Collectors five years ago and this was its third inflation since joining.
 |  |
As we've had a few months off from the constant heavy lifting of our special shapes for events season, Auto Bild felt like a real heavy one! It was nice to see it inflated again, and before you ask, no, this is not a special shape...
Next up was a Lindstrand 105A registered G-BWGA built in 1995 to avertise Asda, which looked really nice in the sun that made a brief appearance.
 |  |
To conclude the morning's old balloon inflations was 1993 Cameron V-77 G-BTWJ. By this point the winds were picking up a little so it was then time to pack up.
We were joined at Ashton Court by The Hot Air Balloon Company's Ultramagic N-180 G-CMNN for a tether at the top of the bowl. Pilot Steve Withers also treated us to an inflation of his ETS Group balloon, also an Ultramagic, G-OETS, ahead of this year's hot air ballooning season which kicks off soon!
 |  |
Just a short post today. Thanks for reading as ever.
Coming soon is another special shape series... keep your eyes peeled!
