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.
Hot Air Ballooning is not a Meribel activity, 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
Meribel 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. From Meribel centre it will
take about 40-45 minutes to drive to the takeoff site at
Courchevel Altiport, Courchevel 1850.
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how to get there FROM MERIBEL
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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
Meribel.
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.
