How dangerous is hot air balloons?

[Juliet Hotel]

I met a woman at party once who held a balloon pilot cert. I asked her a few questions about what it took to get certified. The gist I got from the conversation was it definitely takes a bit more than just showing the DPE a Polaroid picture of yourself standing upright and breathing at some point in your life, but not a whole lot more. Then we talked about the mechanical aspects of the burner, their typical maintenance practices and typical amount of oversight found in those maintenance practices. Bottom line: I won't set foot in one and I would aggressively try to prevent anyone I cared about from setting foot in one.

 

[Brad Smith]

I won’t ride on the back of a motorcycle as you must rely 100% on the skills of the rider. Also don’t care for being in the passenger back seat of a light plane as once again you have 0% control of the outcome. Hot air balloon? Won’t even consider it. Ever.

 

[Half Fast]

Ok...well i thought you were being serious. Apologies if I was wrong. I am not humor challenged. This format of communication is compromised in many ways though...

No worries. I should have used a sarcasm flag.

 

[Half Fast]

I met a woman at party once who held a balloon pilot cert. I asked her a few questions about what it took to get certified. The gist I got from the conversation was it definitely takes a bit more than just showing the DPE a Polaroid picture of yourself standing upright and breathing at some point in your life, but not a whole lot more. Then we talked about the mechanical aspects of the burner, their typical maintenance practices and typical amount of oversight found in those maintenance practices. Bottom line: I won't set foot in one and I would aggressively try to prevent anyone I cared about from setting foot in one.

Read Martha Lunken's story about becoming a balloon pilot examiner when she was with the FAA. On one of her solo flights she managed to set down inside a prison yard....

 

[Silvaire]

I've been watching YouTube videos of para-motor enthusiasts, those guys are attracted to hot air balloons like moths to a light bulb. They buzz around them and turn on their smoke. I imagine it must really tick the balloonists off.

 

[3393RP]

Most pilots get really annoyed when someone they engage in conversation expresses their belief that flying in a tiny airplane is horribly dangerous. The person will sometimes describe a personal experience, but usually recounts a particularly gruesome crash they read about or saw on TV.

The relevance of their statistically insignificant anecdote to GA in general and to your experiences specifically is close to zero.

Many of the responses in this thread fit that description. Ballooning, like flying, is as safe as the pilot makes it, with the exception of spontaneous events beyond the ability of the pilot in either discipline to counteract.

Ballooning is much more complex than inflating the envelope, firing the burners, and flying away. A knowledge of micrometeorlogy is required. The pilot has to consider where the conditions will take him, and plan accordingly.

 

[Juliet Hotel]

Many of the responses in this thread fit that description. Ballooning, like flying, is as safe as the pilot makes it, with the exception of spontaneous events beyond the ability of the pilot in either discipline to counteract.

Agreed. My point was there tends to be an implied belief that if a person does the work required to successfully obtain a private pilot certificate, that person will have the knowledge base sufficient enough to make their flying safe. Yes, a good pilot is always learning, but a newly minted private should have the knowledge and skills required to keep their flying safe. I think this is generally true of the Airplane Single Engine Land side of things. I don't think its nearly as true on the Lighter-Than-Air Balloon side of things. Kind of the same way that doctors are doctors and chiropractors are not but call themselves doctors anyway.

 

[SkyDog58]

Most pilots get really annoyed when someone they engage in conversation expresses their belief that flying in a tiny airplane is horribly dangerous. The person will sometimes describe a personal experience, but usually recounts a particularly gruesome crash they read about or saw on TV.

The relevance of their statistically insignificant anecdote to GA in general and to your experiences specifically is close to zero.

Many of the responses in this thread fit that description. Ballooning, like flying, is as safe as the pilot makes it, with the exception of spontaneous events beyond the ability of the pilot in either discipline to counteract.

Ballooning is much more complex than inflating the envelope, firing the burners, and flying away. A knowledge of micrometeorlogy is required. The pilot has to consider where the conditions will take him, and plan accordingly.

 

[simtech]

Yes, a good pilot is always learning.

I instantly read this with the voice of Jason Schappert. Ugh

 

[Pascal Forget]

In my humble opinion and based on the accident reports that I have read, ballooning appears to be safer than helicopters. Then again, helicopters are workhorses that are exploited in all sorts of environments, terrain and weather whereas balloons are mostly operated in fair weather. As others have mentioned, I too am a very bad passenger in any motor vehicle. I much prefer being in control.

 

[Spring Ford]

*do you actually 'fly' those things? seems to me u just get dragged around in it.

Google are flying balloons on a pretty much continuous basis. Idea is to provide wireless internet to places without much infrastructure quite cheaply. Not hot air, Helium I think, when necessary they compress it and put it back in tanks using solar powered compressors. Or something like that. See project Loon.

They claim to be able to maintain position to some significant extent by using differing wind directions at different altitudes.

They appear to have a base in Nevada where they launch from sometimes. All activity seems likely testing rather than any production although I think they may have provided some internet service to Puerto Rica after the big storm.
Winnemucca, Nevada.

FlightRadar24 shows a few flying right now. Easy to find , use an altitude filter set say for 47,000ft+ to get rid of all the low life Often over South America, sometimes Africa.

 

[SkyDog58]

I instantly read this with the voice of Jason Schappert. Ugh

Must be a generational thing. I had to google his name to see who he is. No idea what he sounds like.

 

[simtech]

Must be a generational thing. I had to google his name to see who he is. No idea what he sounds like.

What if we are the same age? haha

Yeah if you watch any aviation videos on youtube you will run into him. His signature quote is" Annnnd remember most importantly, a good pilot.. is always learning".

 

[Gucci Pilot]

How in the world was there a second time?!?!?

Second time I was asked by a friend if I could crew for their friend coming in town for a balloon festival. Said I obviously didn't have to fly if they offered. I agreed to help out. When it came time to fly he wanted me to get in the basket to put some weight on while they got the local paper photographer in. I looked down and was organizing some of his stuff before I got out. When I looked up, we were 20 feet in the air. No point in telling him to put it back down. Figured it was pretty unlikely to happen twice in a row. So just stood there and enjoyed myself. To be honest if he offered the ride instead of surprising me, I would have probably said yes.

When we landed I told him how my first flight went. He was extremely apologetic and said if he would have know, he would have asked first. I told him quite the opposite and thanked him for the ride. It was awesome! Honestly, its pretty fair to assume someone that is going to crew for a hot air balloon, would like to go up in said balloon.

 

[NoHeat]

I really enjoyed a hot air balloon ride near Tucson, launched at dawn, in the winter.

It’s a marvelous quiet experience, flying lower and slower than piston powered planes.

The only slight annoyance was dog barking. When you fly over a rural neighborhood with dogs, they all start barking when the burners are fired.

 

[3393RP]

I really enjoyed a hot air balloon ride near Tucson, launched at dawn, in the winter.

The only slight annoyance was dog barking. When you fly over a rural neighborhood with dogs, they all start barking when the burners are fired.

When I lived in Albuquerque, I owned a slightly stupid Springer Spaniel. Just after sunrise he would be sleeping in the backyard, and when a balloon would silently drift over the house and then hit the burners he would go nuts.

 

[FormerHangie]

When I lived in Albuquerque, I owned a slightly stupid Springer Spaniel. Just after sunrise he would be sleeping in the backyard, and when a balloon would silently drift over the house and then hit the burners he would go nuts.

That's why all dogs should be inside sleeping on the bed. if you don't believe me, just ask any dog, he'll tell you.