Ballooning in Italy 2001...
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Pre-flight checks
with Giovanni Aimo and Bobbo. We hadn't done this since September 2000 and
there was a concern that we would be very rusty but it came flooding back.
Giovanni went along for the
first flight just to make sure he was leaving his balloon in safe hands.
Nick and Steve soon put his mind at rest. |
| Nick, beaming
from ear to ear with the pleasure of being airborne again. The time was
about 07:00 and we were wearing short sleeved shirts because it was so warm.
Thank goodness for air-conditioned hotels. |
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Blu was a Cameron
Z90 fitted with Sirocco burners which meant we flew the whole flight on the
main burner because it was as quiet as the normal whisper burner.
Steve and Nick were making a
low level approach with a ground speed of around 8 knots which was a bit
fast for the small fields they were flying over. The countryside was
beautiful and the farmers were inviting them to land in their fields which
was so alien from our UK experiences. |
| Considering they
flew in over a field of maize before touch down, this was not a large field
by any stretch of the imagination. The farmer would not have been happy if
Steve drifted into his runner beans. As it turned out pilots and crew were
invited back to the farmhouse for salami and wine. |
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A hazy view of a
wonderful Italian viaduct. Steve could not get the balloon down into the
valley to splash and dash without drifting back into the trees which lined
the valley sides. He later told us he learned a lot about valley winds from
this flight. After fifteen minutes of drifting backwards and forwards he
gave up and headed for the other side of the valley. |
| The early morning
mist hanging in the valley remind us of what ballooning is all about. Flying
doesn't get much more perfect than this and the fact that the farmers are
very friendly, makes it all the more relaxing. |
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Magliano Alpi
seen from the air. Apart from the power lines it doesn't look as though much
has changed in hundreds of years. |
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