Tag Archives: balloons

2010-07-03 – First Lesson – Mildura – VH-BLQ (77)

This was my first instructional flight in a hot air balloon. I was at Mildura as part of the Australian Ballooning Federation’s “The Lake 2010” event Here’s my notes from the flight: Paul’s FICOM check process Cold, crisp conditions with … Continue reading

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Introducing “Flight Notes”

As part of my balloon flight training, my instructors have asked me to write up notes about each flight, highlighting what was good, what I learned, questions & what wasn’t so good. The idea is that this will help solidify … Continue reading

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Fog, Balloons and some Lilydale Airport Action

The other morning I was crewing hot air balloons out in the Yarra Valley. It was very foggy so the drive out was “interesting” and we spent a couple of hours waiting for it to lift. While it was very … Continue reading

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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

We’re sitting here late at night watching the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s “mass ascention” streaming live on the ‘net. Hundreds of balloons launching and flying together, a sky packed with balloons. Amazing. You can see it via KOAT’s live feed … Continue reading

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Picture This Flying Beer Glass

While heading to work this morning, walking off the escalators out of the subway at Melbourne Central, I stumbled on Pete Wright, Paul Gibbs and the Picture This gang with an entire hot air balloon inflated inside the atrium area … Continue reading

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I’m BACK! :)

As of today I’m back crewing the balloons again – yay – it’s good to be back although my “day job” doesn’t let me do the crewing more than once or twice a month. At least it gets me out … Continue reading

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I’ve Been Safely Trained

As of today I now hold a First Aid level 1 certificate – woo hoo – I know how to do CPR and such. Go me :) Training was held for Balloon Sunrise pilots & crew out at the Balgownie … Continue reading

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Aviation Weekend

This weekend has been a busy aviation weekend, that’s for sure. On Saturday, I spent the afternoon and evening attending the VATSIM Oceania 2007 Convention out at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne airport. The conference is all about operating flight … Continue reading

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Balloonatic Go Karting

Today saw the inaugural Balloon Sunrise vs Global Ballooning go kart challenge held at Ace Karts in Sunshine. The day began with rain, leading us to think we’d be down graded from Super Karts (9HP) to Modified Karts (6.5HP) as … Continue reading

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Grand Prix – Day 4

Lots of fun had today down at the Grand Prix – I wound up crewing the domestics this morning (eg: normal passenger balloons) then came home and met up with the guys outside on the street. We packed into PUF … Continue reading

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