Post-Landing Hot Air Balloon

There is one part of the hot air balloon ride that is the ride and there is another experience which is the landing. We had an interesting landing. We originally didn't want to land where we did, but the air currents decided for us. We came in fast, aiming for a large grassy park area, but we actually came in too fast and missed it. Just past the grassy area was a large parking lot which became our landing (crash?) pad. Narrowly missing the lamp post at the edge of the parking lot our pilot yelled down to an observer to run after us and jump on the basket as it landed in order to add some weight to it. We hit the parking lot, he jumped on, we bounced, the basket tipped on its side and skidded a good ways (see the skid marks in the third and fourth pictures below!). The balloon crew following the basket then arrives and we pack everything up. The pilot used this time to do some marketing and show off the basket and the ignition to some of the bystanders. Finally, the crew performs a little ceremony for the passengers, christening the flight and making it all just a little bit more special!

A huge thank you to Daniel Davignon and his crew for an amazing adventure.

More of Gatineau from the Air

Here are some more images from the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival!

Finally the Balloons (and ourselves!!) are Launched

So ... on our third try during the festival, the balloons finally launched. Today's post and the next couple of days will show you the images that resulted!

How to Launch A Hot Air Balloon

Whether you are launching tethered or not, the process is essentially the same for a hot air balloon. First you have to fill up the balloon with air from a giant fan ... and then add heat! Here are a few images from the process. Two are from the day where the balloons actually launched and one is from a tethered morning. Ok ... so the first image isn't one that I took ... but still :P.

More Balloons

Here are a few more of the many balloons from the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Multitude of Balloons on the Ground

The hard thing to realize about hot air balloons is that they are extremely fickle. Whether or not the balloons are actually allowed to launch depends greatly on the weather and the wind. Two mornings in a row we waited in line in order to get our ride and two mornings in a row the weather just didn't work for us. Fortunately though, some balloons are allowed to 'launch' but tethered. This gave rise to a wide scene of balloons that you wouldn't see together (since they would rather be floating away periodically!).

Festivale des Montgolfières de Gatineau

Now it is time to go back ... way back ... to last summer. I got around to editing up the pictures from the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon festival ... both on the ground and from the air. The next few posts here will show some of the amazing balloons and views from the festival. Enjoy! The third image below is especially interesting as it was the actual hot air balloon used in the creation of the animated film "UP". I don't know the exact details but due to copyright issues it was supposed to be destroyed after the films creation but a lot of folks fought to keep it around. It was a neat balloon and a great addition to the festival.