In my post on last Tuesday I proposed to write a post on how to set up a balloon. And, here it is.
A balloon consists of the basket, that’s the passengers compartment of the balloon, and the balloon itself. The basket is usually woven from willow branches. The balloon is made from a lightweight fabric. Both parts are transported with a special trailer.
First you get the basket and the sack containing the balloon from the trailer and attach the basket to the car to fix it and hinder it from flying away. Next you unpack the fabric, spread it on the ground and attach it to the basket.
In case you got the OK to prepare your start, fill the balloon with (cold) air by using a ventilator. At last you put hot air in the balloon by using the gas torch. Now a dangerous phase begins, because the helper have to hold the balloon open and have to avoid any contact of the balloon fabric and the flame. While the air inside the balloon heats up, the balloon begins to become lighter than the surrounding air and takes slowly up. The basket is lift by the balloon and the passengers can enter the basket to start their flight.
The hotter the air inside the balloon, the lighter it becomes. So, the temperature regulates the height and the wind sets speed and direction. Gone with the wind!
The sun heats the air over the ground. And that’s one reason for wind. But, wind makes ballooning dangerous. So, hot air balloons usually start in the early morning before the wind starts or in the late afternoon, when the wind already has stopped. A flight is about 60 to 90 minutes, because of the limited amount of gas on board.
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