Time Travellers
Very many strange things have happened in the villages and countryside of Northamptonshire over the past ten years but nothing as strange as the events that have unfolded in the past month.

A flight was taken that went back through the mists of time and out of these mists the image depicted here became visible.

Who were these visitors from another time and space? We can now reveal that this image is in fact that of

Colin Boyson (left) and Tony Pinner. This happy pair were in the early throes of setting up a new Balloon Rides business in 1989 when they flew into the annals of ballooning only to fly out of the business in January 2004.

Only the partners in “crime” know how many thousands of passengers they have flown but all the pilots and crew know that the number of dissatisfied customers could be counted on one hand.

BALLOON JARGON – BY ANY OTHER NAME

Ballast

Basket

Briefing

Buoyancy

Crew

Crown

Debriefing

Drag landing

Envelope

Fiesta

Flying wire

Free-Balloon

Fuel

Gas bag

Gore

Inflation fan

Lift

Liquid feed

Log Book

 

Rip panel

 

Scoop

Skirt

Special Shape

Tether

Thermal

Unwanted passengers

Pilot who won’t fly crew

Putting on a clean pair of underpants

Point at which fuel exceeds capacity (see fuel)

Group of friends who think nothing of a long country drive at 6.30a.m.

Worn by pilots

Putting on another clean pair of underwear (see gore)

Result of falling off bar stool (see buoyancy & fuel)

Place to put sponsors name & address

Small retrieve vehicle

11,000 KV power line after you have hit it. Ask Colin?

No such thing. Tony can get a deal from Cameron’s though!

Champagne or Head in the Clouds (Frog Island Brew)

Ballooning bore

Result of a heavy landing

Balloon groupie

To be given to all young ladies when on recovery drive.

(see fuel)

To be entered as a Booker prize for fiction. (Every pilot is aware of the magnetic attraction of the solitary log in an empty field.)

unavoidably common occurrence even the best pilots experience this. Thank goodness for Cameron’s speedy repair service

Your picture in the local paper, with the usual spelling errors

(see lift)

A standard balloon when hit by turbulence especially 25 knot winds

That which you come to the end of when waiting for a change in the weather.

Worn in winter (imperative on feet)

BEER & BALLOONS

Colin Boyson is not the only one in the Ballooning Business with an entrepreneurial spirit. Sue & Graham Cherry are in hop pursuit with their part ownership of the Frog Island Brewery. They made a hot air balloon delivery of their latest brew “Head in the Clouds” at last year’s festival.

Graham is well known by most of his customers as his other hobby (apart from hot air ballooning), is visiting the pubs around the area to ensure they are keeping his beer correctly. Graham was heard to say “This is a tough life but someone’s got to live it.”