Travelling in a hot air balloon is a remarkably serene,
peaceful and enjoyable experience; you don't feel any breeze since the balloon
moves with the wind. Without the rushing winds normally associated with
high altitudes, the experience of flying in a hot air balloon seems very
safe and calming - you simply lift off the ground and move with the air
in the atmosphere.
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If you actually need to get somewhere, a hot air balloon is a
fairly impractical vehicle. You can't really steer it, and it only
travels as fast as the wind blows. But if you simply want to enjoy the
experience of flying..... There's nothing quite like it!
Hot Air Ballooning
takes place on a daily basis weather permitting, if it is snowing,
raining, too cloudy or if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction the
hot air ballooning activity will not operate. Unlike Britain and other
parts of the world where there are two flights; morning and early evening
hot air ballooning in the mountains can ONLY operate in the morning due
to the takeoff altitude and flying conditions. Arriving at the takeoff
site at about 0830hrs you will be taking off for your mountain ballooning
experience at around 0900hrs (lift opening time) the flight will take
anything from 1-2 hours.
The Hot Air Ballooning activity departs from the Altiport in
Courchevel 1850. Due to the early start involved, to take part in Hot Air
Ballooning it will be necessary to get transport from Courchevel in order
to get to the takeoff site as the lift system does not officially open
till 0900hrs. With the lift system not open you will NOT be able to ski
to the Hot Air Ballooning takeoff site in time.
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how
to get there FROM Courchevel
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WHITETRACKS HOST
Collected from your chalet you will be transported straight
to Courchevel Altiport. The Whitetracks host will drive you to the
Pilotus restaurant and park in the restaurant car park right next to the
Altiport runway. From the car park the Host will walk you through the
restaurant, down the stairs and out the electric doors to where, at this
moment in time the balloon should have been started to be unpacked. The
Host will then take you and introduce you to the Hot Air Ballooning pilot
answering any final questions or queries that you might have and to make
sure that are being looked after properly. The Host will then stay at the
takeoff site taking pictures of you as you help inflate the balloon and
then taking further pictures of the all important takeoff. Once out of
range the Host will then do their best to follow you in the Whitetracks
vehicle taking more pictures of your Hot Air Balloon flight as it is
navigated around the mountains. The Whitetracks host will then endeavour
to be at the landing to take more photos as you land but also to lend a
hand and help with the deflation the balloon. Once the balloon has been
deflated and packed away the Host will escort you back to your chalet,
hotel or apartment in Courchevel. Whitetracks
Host
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Hot Air Ballooning – operation / DURATION / format
If you are driving yourself or catching a taxi to Courchevel
Altiport, you should arrive to meet the pilot at least 5-10 minutes
before the requested time. The pilot might keep you waiting but PLEASE do
not keep them waiting.
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Launching
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When you get to the takeoff site you will be asked to help
with the inflating of the balloon, much of the work comes at the
beginning and the end of the flight, with the inflating and deflating of
the balloon. The crew will firstly unroll the balloon on the ground
laying it out flat for easy inflation; they will then attach the burner
system to the basket. The balloon envelop will then be attached, once the
envelope is laid out using a powerful fan at its base the inflating will
begin. When there is enough air in the balloon, the pilot will blast the
burner flame into the envelope mouth. This will heat the air, building
pressure until the balloon inflates all the way and starts to lift off
the ground.
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The ground crew members will then hold the basket down until
the pilot and the passengers are on board. The balloon basket is attached
to the ground crew vehicle until the last minute, so the balloon won't be
blown away before it is ready to launch. When everything is set, the
ground crew will release the balloon and the pilot will fire a steady
flame from the burner. As the air heats up, the balloon lifts of the
ground. This entire process will take about 15-20 minutes.
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When in the air even the most experienced pilots do not have
complete control over the balloons path. Usually, wind conditions give
pilots very few options. Consequently, you can't really pilot a hot air
balloon along an exact course; it is very rare that a pilot would be able
to fly the balloon back to the starting point. Piloting a hot air balloon
is largely improvised for this reason hot air balloons have a ground crew
that will follow the balloon by car to see where it lands. When the Hot
Air Balloon lands the ground crew should be there to help with the
landing, the collection of passengers and importantly the equipment (If
they are not there for the actual landing they won’t be far behind).
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Occasionally, when there is no wind in the mountains the Hot
Air Balloon will only cover a very short distance mainly just travelling
up and down in one spot before landing. The duration of the flight is
also quite unpredictable with flights ranging from 1-2 hours, as soon as
the balloon is in the air; the pilot is constantly looking for suitable
landing sites, in case there is an emergency. What makes it difficult in
the mountains is that there are very few places large enough for a Hot
Air Balloon to land if the pilot can not find a suitable area to land the
flight will variably be longer than normal until a suitable place can be
found.
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Landing
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The landing process combined with deflating and re-packing
the balloon envelope, takes a while longer than the inflation process.
When the pilot is ready to land, the pilot will discuss the landing site
with the ground crew (via an onboard radio) importantly telling them
where it is. In the mountains where everything is on a slope or built up
with chalets the pilot will need to find a large enough space without
power lines and Lift cables with enough room to lay out the balloon.
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The balloon landing can be a little rough, but the pilot will
bump along the ground to stop the balloon gradually, minimising the
impact. If the crew has made it to the landing site, they will hold
the basket down once it has landed. If the balloon isn't in a good
position, the crew will try and pull it along the ground to a better
spot.
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If possible the ground crew will set out a ground tarp, to
protect the balloon from wear and tear. The pilot will then open the
parachute valve, so the air can escape out of the top of the balloon. The
ground crew will grab the cord attached to the top of the balloon, and
will pull the balloon over onto the tarp. Once the balloon envelope is
down on the ground, the crew will push the air out. When the balloon is flattened,
the crew will then pack it into a stuff sack.
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Once the Hot Air Balloon has been packed away and the basket
is back on the trailer, the Pilot (depending on the Hot Air Ballooning
company Whitetracks has booked you with) will crack open the Champagne.
Once you have drunk the Champagne or if they don’t supply Champagne as
soon as everything is packed away the ground crew and pilot will
transport you and the other passengers back to Courchevel Altiport 1850.
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If you have Hired a Whitetracks Host you will not need to
travel back to Courchevel Altiport the Host will pick you up and transfer
you straight from the landing site to your chalet, hotel or apartment in
Meribel, Whitetracks Host
To take part in Hot
Air Ballooning there is a minimum age of 12 years old, this age is really
just a guideline as generally at the age of 12 you will be a height at
which you will be able to see over the edge of the basket. If you can not
see over the edge of the basket you can not take part in the Hot Air
Ballooning activity.
possible
for up to 30 people in 7 individual hot air balloons
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Unlike some Hot Air
Balloons in Britain and other parts of the world where they can carry up
to 20 people at a time the high altitudes of the balloon mountain flying
govern the sizes of the balloons that can be used. For safety reasons the
Hot Air Balloons must remain small as larger balloons have a higher
flying level.
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Hot Air Ballooning
can cater for numbers as small as two and a maximum of five in a single
balloon. For larger groups Hot Air Ballooning is capable of catering up
to thirty people in seven different Hot Air Balloons but it means that
Whitetracks would have to bring in pilots and balloons from the
surrounding areas. For larger groups wanting to take part in the Hot Air
Ballooning activity it is necessary to book in advance to ensure
availability. Up to 30 people in 7 Hot Air Balloons - Advance Booking
Essential.
Ski
Clothing - Jacket, ski pants, hat gloves and sun glasses
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Hot Air Ballooning
is an early morning daytime activity, when you arrive at Courchevel
Altiport the sun is unlikely to have risen meaning you will be helping to
inflate the balloon in the shade. PLEASE dress warm as it will be
extremely cold and will only start to warm up as the sun comes up over
the mountains. Once in the balloon and in the air you will be travelling
with the wind meaning there will not be any wind chill factor the only
cold you will feel will be the actual temperature of the air. Wear ski
clothing - jacket, ski pants, hat gloves and take sun glasses because
without the wind chill it will still be cold. Whilst standing in the
balloon looking over the edge of the basket there will be a contrast of
temperatures with your face and front being cold and your back getting
warm / hot every time the burners are ignited.
Before the flight the pilot will call a weather service to
find out about climate and wind conditions in the area. Pilots only fly
when the weather is close to ideal - when skies are clear and wind
conditions are normal. Storms are extremely hazardous for hot air
balloons because of the danger of a lightening strike. Even rain and snow
is a problem because it decreases visibility and damages the balloon
material and while you need a nice wind current to have a good flight,
very strong winds could easily wreck the balloon.
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Pilots also call the weather service to get a rough idea of
which way the balloon will travel, and how they should manoeuvre once
they're in the air. In the air, the pilot will use an onboard altimeter,
variometer and their own observations to find the right altitude.
Reaching the right altitude is pretty tricky because there is at least a
30-second delay between blasting the burners and the balloon actually lifting.
Balloon pilots have to operate the appropriate controls just a little
before they want to rise and shut them off a little before they want to
stop rising.
Hot air balloons
are based on a very basic scientific principle: warmer air rises in
cooler air. Essentially, hot air is lighter than cooler air, because it
has less mass per unit of volume. A cubic foot of air weighs roughly
28grams. If you heat that air by 100 degrees F, it weighs about 7 grams
less. Therefore, each cubic foot of air contained in a hot air balloon can
lift about 7 grams. That's not much, but this is why the balloons are so
large - To lift 1,000 pounds, you need about 65,000 cubic feet of hot
air.
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To keep the balloon
rising, you need a way to reheat the air. Hot air balloons do this with a
burner positioned under an open balloon envelope. As the air in the
balloon cools, the pilot can reheat it by firing the burner. Modern hot
air balloons heat the air by burning propane which is stored in
compressed liquid form in lightweight cylinders positioned in the balloon
basket. The intake hose runs down to the bottom of the cylinder, so it
can draw the liquid out.
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Because the propane is highly compressed in the cylinders, it
flows quickly through the hoses to the heating coil. The heating coil is
simply a length of steel tubing arranged in a coil around the burner.
When the balloonist starts up the burner, the propane flows out in liquid
form and is ignited by a pilot light. As the flame burns, it heats up the
metal in the surrounding tubing. When the tubing becomes hot, it heats
the propane flowing through it. This changes the propane from a liquid to
a gas, before it is ignited. This gas makes for a more powerful flame and
more efficient fuel consumption.
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In most modern balloons, the envelope is constructed from
long nylon gores, reinforced with sewn-in webbing. the gores, which
extend from the base of the envelope to the crown, comprise of a number
of smaller panels. Nylon works very well in balloons because it is
lightweight, but it is also fairly sturdy and has a high melting
temperature. The skirt, the nylon at the base of the envelope, is coated
with special fire-resistant material, to keep the flame from igniting the
balloon.
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The hot air won't
escape from the hole at the bottom of the envelope because buoyancy keeps
it moving up. If the pilot continually fires the fuel jets, the balloon
will continue to rise. There is an upper altitude limit; however, since
eventually the air becomes so thin that the buoyant force is too weak to
lift the balloon. The buoyant force is equal to the weight of air
displaced by the balloon, so a larger balloon envelope will generally
have a higher upper altitude limit than a smaller balloon.
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Most hot air
balloons use a wicker basket for the passenger compartment. Wicker works
very well because it is sturdy, flexible and relatively lightweight. The
flexibility helps with balloon landings: In a basket made of more rigid
material, passengers would feel the brunt of the impact force. Wicker
material flexes a little, absorbing some of the energy.
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PILOTING
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Piloting a balloon
takes skill, but the controls are actually very simple. To lift the
balloon, the pilot moves a control that opens up the propane valve. As it
is turned on the flow of gas increases, so the flame grows in size. The
pilot can increase the vertical speed by blasting a larger flame to heat
the air more rapidly. Additionally, many hot air balloons have a control
that opens a second propane valve. This valve sends propane through a
hose that bypasses the heating coils. This lets the pilot burn liquid
propane, instead of propane in gas form this produces a less efficient,
weaker flame, but is much quieter than burning gas.
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Hot air balloons also have a cord to open the parachute valve
at the top of the envelope. When the pilot pulls the attached cord, some
hot air can escape from the envelope, decreasing the inner air
temperature. This causes the balloon to slow its ascent. If the pilot
keeps the valve open long enough, the balloon will sink.
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Essentially, These
are the only controls - pilots can manoeuvre horizontally by changing
their vertical position, because wind blows in different directions at
different altitudes. To move in a particular direction, a pilot ascends
and descends to the appropriate level, and rides with the wind. Since
wind speed generally increases as you get higher in the atmosphere,
pilots can also control horizontal speed by changing altitude.
