As you can probably tell, here at MJ Ballooning we are a big fan of special shape hot air balloons. Hundreds of weird and spectacular special shapes have appeared at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta since the 1980s. In a previous blog, we looked at the most loved and popular to come to Bristol, but what about the forgotten special shapes?
Lots of balloons have only visited Bristol’s balloon fiesta once or twice, perhaps over thirty years ago when there was no social media and digital cameras to capture the moment. We are going to explore the top 12 forgotten Bristol special shapes. Did you know these even attended? Let’s begin....
12. Bud E Beaver
Think back fifteen years to the amazing Bristol Balloon Fiesta of 2004! Bud E Beaver was a popular new American special shape that weekend flying with all-time classics Virgin Jumbo and Piper. Cameron Balloons had recently transformed Bud E from Mr potato head.
11. Foamy Gnome
Rowntree’s Foamy Gnome balloon was created in the Czech Republic by Kubicek Balloons ahead of a 2010 tour. Exclusive Ballooning brought their giant jelly gnome to Bristol with Blue Square where it tethered on Thursday and Sunday.
10. Beethoven
About the Forbes Special Shapes
The original publisher of the Forbes 500 magazine Malcolm Forbes built up the largest and most impressive collection of special shape balloons in the world in the late 80s and early 90s. Each time he visited a country, he would have a new special shape built to honour the country. A gathering took place each year where all his balloons were flown from his Chateaux Balleroy in Northern France.
His special shapes included a Sphinx for Egypt, an Indian elephant, Santa Maria ship for Spain and our favourite; Suliman the Magnificent the Turkish emperor, plus many more.
All his special shapes were test inflated on the same bit of grass at Ashton Court where all the ballooning still happens to this very day, but only a handful attended the famous Bristol Balloon Fiesta.
Beethoven, built for Germany, was one of them, attending in 1987.
9. Lindy
This is a very recent one. Who remembers Lindstrand USA’s Lindy mascot coming to Bristol just two years ago in 2017? Registered N917LB, Lindy only flew once on the Friday morning launch.
8. Harley Davidson
The incredible Harley Davidson bike balloon was created by Cameron Balloons in 1986 and was also a creation from Malcolm Forbes. We believe this flew no more than once from the 1986 fiesta.
7. Macaw
The Macaw, a long-tailed brightly coloured parrot, was another Forbes special shape which took centre stage at the 1990 fiesta. It took off at the end of one evening mass launch and flew right across the city. What a sight this must have been!
6. E5 Mode
OO-BKV was built by Cameron Balloons in 2000 and appeared at the special shapes rodeo in Bristol seven years later. It was only inflated once alongside Churchill, Stroud & Swindon, the Crème Egg and more, and we’re still not entirely sure what E5 Mode is!
It’s now safely looked after with Christoff Deyaert in his large hot air balloon collection in Belgium.
5. Son of the Pink Panther
Operated by Virgin Airship & Balloon Company and built in 1993, Lindstrand G-PINX only attended the Bristol Balloon Fiesta for one year. Son of the Pink Panther is a comedy film which was released on August 27th 1993. Four detailed add-ons are attached to the envelope of a policeman and the pink panther!
4. Festo
Have you ever seen these before and knew they were right here in Bristol? Two of the famous Festo hot air balloons came to Ashton Court in August 1999 - twenty years ago! Festo is an industrial control and automation company based in Germany.
How does it work? Well, the real basket is cleverly hidden in a dome in the underside of the envelope and the fake basket is just like any other special shape. This creates a fascinating illusion of an upside-down balloon, but there is no need to phone for help; everything is under control!
Watch a more recent video of the Festo balloons here.
3. Servo Connectors Hopper
This was one of the first hopper special shapes built. For those of you not so familiar, hoppers are small, one-person hot air balloons without a conventional basket, instead with the pilot sat on a seat. Not for the faint-hearted!
Servo had this special balloon built in 1993 and it attended the fiesta the same year. It holds 30,000 cubic feet of air and is much heavier than a standard hopper, many of which nowadays are lightweight.
2. Nissan Car
The giant Nissan car special shape attended the fiesta in 1993, only appearing once for its only ever UK flight. Built by Cameron Balloons that year, PH-HOS is still flying and owned in Holland. Until recently we didn’t know for certain if it came to Bristol or went abroad straight away, but it’s definitely gone unnoticed! What a brilliant balloon it is too.
1. LG Phone
Surely you don’t remember this one? You must be a real fiesta fan if you do!
In 2006 two Spanish registered LG phone special shapes appeared at the fiesta. Both were built by Cameron Balloons and were test inflated in Ashton Court bowl during summer of 2006. EC-JNO, an N-90 with add-ons, was inflated a number of times during the event but larger phone special shape EC-JNN only came out the bag once.
If anyone has photos of the LG special shapes from 2006 we would love to see them!
We hope you’ve enjoyed finding out about the forgotten special shapes of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. Any you would add to the list? There are plenty to choose from...
Read more from MJ Ballooning
Find out more about hot air ballooning in Bristol on MJ Ballooning.
Photo Credits
Nissan, Servo, Pink Panther, Mcaw, Harley Davidson, Lindy, Foamy Gnome: Ballooning Pictures UK
Festo, E5 Mode, Bud E: Matt Cleaves
LG: Tom Balson
Beethoven: Chris Leader
Nissan, Servo, Pink Panther, Mcaw, Harley Davidson, Lindy, Foamy Gnome: Ballooning Pictures UK
Festo, E5 Mode, Bud E: Matt Cleaves
LG: Tom Balson
Beethoven: Chris Leader