just saw a sad accident on the news in texas .. . (Thats life i guess) But,,, anyone ever been in one ? Seen heaps but always was Skeptical about something with no brakes and questionable steering .(bus related) And of course being a mile high .
Not for me. I like my feet nearer the ground. I heard the news and someone from the industry saying it's really safe and at least four years since the last tragedy on a similar scale. Then again I drive my bay at 70 along the motorway in the fast lane, a twitch away from certain death...
Yeah, im motorbiker and a tree surgeon , but i hate to have even one split second of not being able to control My situation . Even if it means the worst . I guess it would be a really slow motion feeling when you know your going to crash , Hold On! , (1 minute later ) your still holding , heart attack,,,
I went up in the Nokia balloon over the Austrian Alps years ago. Took off from a small private airport and landed about 100 yards from our hotel on a frozen lake. Loved it!
We did it in Australia, probably about 10 years ago . I loved it, @volkswombat hated it, but he was nursing a perforated ear drum at the time. I was surprised how many people fit into the basket... And the landing was not what I expected at all! I'd do it again, even though I don't like heights.
I went up a few years ago from Sywell airfield in Northants and it was absolutely fantastic. We flew for around 90 mins initially reaching 3500 feet and then gradually descending as the pilot looked for a suitable landing spot. We eventually touched down in a country park in Bedfordshire, the pilot dropping us on a strip of land about 100 yards wide between a lake and a wood. The guys fishing at the lake were a bit surprised as we came over the trees straight at them! If you like flying I can highly recommend having a go
Same day, different state, a skydiver jumps without a parachute into a net, for fun. Strange world innit?
A couple of years ago we did one over the Nile. We were meant to float over the Valley of the Kings but never made it as we crashed into a sugar cane field. As we set off a balloon came up from below us and nearly knocked us over. Then we missed an electricity line by about a meter and then the 'captain' just seemed to lose it and we crashed. Nobody hurt but we all got covered in mud as we were dragged along the ground. While waiting for the rescue Landrovers to find us the captain handed out certificates to show we'd done it. My son said he didn't really feel he deserved a certificate as we didn't make it. (That's his sense of humour). I didn't know they were so dangerous and would never dream of doing it again
Went with my brother a few years back. Small basket, just the pilot and 4 passengers. We all enjoyed the trip over the West Kent countryside from one farm to another. Standing up in the basket, the sides were only waist height and the floor was plywood with gas cylinders in the corners. It was scary and exciting all in one. The gas burners were just above our heads and the noise and heat was intense. But it was a lovely clear morning and the views amazing. Saw a few aircraft around and one went below us. That was worrying and I asked the pilot if we were too high and he said we were at 3,000 feet to get the correct winds for our destination. When the burners were stopped, the silence was amazing. The landing was precarious as the descent was steep and the pilot was trying to target a good place to land before the gas ran out. As it happened, we came in towards a raspberry field on a farm at Goudhurst very fast and hit the poplar trees hedgerow with the basket and crashed into the field beyond, suddenly it was all over. If that mix of frightening and fun is for you, then try it, but not in one of those large basket ones. Go for a small one with pilot and 4 passengers.
Did a balloon safari over the masai years ago, absolutely brilliant, left the ground at 4.30am, watched the sunrise, saw a pack of lions out hunting and one of the very few black rhino that are left in the wild. As mentioned above the silence is really creepy when the burners are off. I hate heights and get vertigo climbing a ladder but never felt that in the basket. We were back on the ground by 10.30, they are not good in anything above a walking pace wind.
