To gain your pilots licence for a hot air balloon, which is issued by the Civil Aviation Authority you have to complete both flight training and ground exams. These include Air Law, Navigation, Meteorology, Balloon Systems and Human Performance. Flight training must be for a minimum of 16 hours in the basket and this can be carried out with other qualified pilots but with a minimum of two flights with a qualified instructor, a flight test with an examiner and an observed solo flight. 16 hours may not sound a lot but the UK weather probably creates the greatest challenge of all to getting your licence before you are too old to use it!

Once you have your private licence you can go on to get a commercial licence which opens up opportunities to work abroad flying over the Serengetti, the Alps, Egyptian Pyramids etc or just doing a bit of moonlighting to enhance your salary when you start work.

The F word (Frustration that is...) features a lot. You are keen and want to get on with it as quickly as possible so that you can stand around and watch everybody else do the hard work of packing it away afterwards whilst you charm the passengers/farmer/onlookers etc. However ballooning is very weather dependant and you soon learn not to expect to fly everyday or indeed every week but this is what makes it so special. When the perfect day comes for a flight there is nothing more magical than drifting up through the thinning mist as the sun rises. But it is not all about flying, often it is the crew who have the stories to tell at the end of the flight!

At the moment John Harris is the current Pilot Under Training (PUT) attempting to gain his licence through glimpses in the weather. Hopefully John will gain his licence soon and make way for the next PUT. Training normally takes about one year but if the weather is bad it is often longer. If you are keen to learn to fly then make sure you come along to all the events throughout the year and try to sign up for flights as much as possible just to check you enjoy it! The committee will let all the members know when the position opens up for consideration.