Excellent Weekend's Flying
Hi Everyone,
BUHABS has just had an excellent weekend of flying! The weather was very kind to us and we flew three times, giving ten members their first balloon flight.
On Saturday morning we flew a nice a long one from the Maize field in Bath down to a farm in Chilcompton. Pippa, Gemma, Eugene and Paul all flew for the first time with super-retrieve crew Bobby, Alex and Lauren arriving to see us land! Not only did we have a stunning flight over the countryside in beautiful weather ending with a (rather surprising, yet immensely fun) drag landing, as we were packing away a local lady came along with cups of tea.
The Saturday evening flight was almost an exact repeat journey from the Maize field to a different farm in Chilcompton. Matthew, Helga and Jasmin all had their first balloon flight, and Bobby, Catherine and Martin on the retrieve weren't far away when we landed. The very friendly farmer came to meet us in the field, and then we packed up and went to the pub for a quick pint.
On a chilly Sunday morning, we arrived at the Maize field again to find several other balloons getting ready to go flying. This time the wind had swung around and we headed north alongside our fellow balloonists,
landing at Doynton just south of the M4 motorway. Vicky, Tom and Peter got their first ballooning experience, with excellent views of Bath, Bristol and some lovely countryside. The landing was a nice gentle plop, and the legendary farmer came to meet us, and even tried to flag down Sally, John and Matthew on our retrieve to show them the way into the field. Once we were all packed up, we headed back to the Bristol harbourside for breakfast at Brunel's Buttery.
So, all in all a fantastic weekend. Hope those who got to fly really enjoyed it, and a big thank you to all those on the retrieve crews. For those of you who didn't come ballooning this weekend, remember to sign up as much as possible, and it will soon be your turn to come ballooning with BUHABS.
Hope to see you all in a launchsite soon!
Rhod
BUHABS Pilot
Flight Report: 10/10/09
Hi all, The weather yesterday evening was ideal for another flight from Ashton Court, so fly we did! Accompanying Paul as pilot and I were three first-timers: Laurence, Nur and Lucy. We flew right across Clifton Village, the University precinct, the city centre and Broadmead/Cabot Circus in beautiful evening sunshine; we four passengers all brought our cameras, so there are many lovely aerial photos of all the familiar places and landmarks! Following more or less the same path as Rhod's flight last week, we drifted roughly northeast out of the city, and once again landed just north of the M4, near Tormarton. The relatively fast ground wind made for an excellent drag landing which was enjoyed by all! The unbeatable views of the city meant that this was my favourite flight to date. Many thanks to Paul for piloting, and to Elaine and Bobby for retrieving. I've uploaded my best photos from the flight to the gallery, here. Cheers, Will BUHABS Secretary