All of the team at Molly Mae Ballooning will agree that one of the best parts about the sport of ballooning is being able to share the magic and excitement that comes with it with others. So when the opportunity came around to do a workshop and demonstration with the local Scouts group we jumped at the chance.

Liam Goldring, as well as being an avid balloonist and future pilot, is also heavily involved with the Scouts and set everything up for us, Liam worked really hard in finding a suitable location, completing risk assessments and getting permissions from parents ahead of time for the event. The date was set for Thursday the 17th of July and all that was needed was good weather, which as we all know in the often unstable Great British Summer is a big ask.

The day rolled around quickly and the forecast was, as predicted, unstable and ever changing. However, we knew we could at least do something, so with G-TIMX refuelled and ready to go, badges packed for prizes, and the team all arranged we headed down to the site in Northampton. We had also planned that if it was flyable we would use the opportunity to give Liam Menzies another training flight. When we arrived, we were greeted by Scoutmaster “Badger” who showed us to the area where we could set up and gave us a run-down of the planned groups and timings.

Liam M then got the bottom end set up. The plan was that Jamie, the team pilot, would talk through everything whilst Liam M demonstrated what was being discussed such as burner tests etc. We soon got set up and it was then time for the first group to come over. We completed workshops with the Scouts, Beavers and Cubs with each group learning about how hot air balloons work and fly, pre-flight safety, system checks, and navigation. We then held a Q and A for each group and gave out some badges as prizes before they swapped out with the next group. Once all of the groups had been through we then had to make a decision as to whether we flew or not.

The local and ballooning forecasts indicated it was flyable but there were local bands of rain and unstable weather moving through. Utilising the rainfall radar and Met Office updates, we made the decision that we would set up and look to launch around 2000 hours, where the forecasts showed the weather would settle. Liam M led the setup and delivered a spot on passenger briefing which was his best to date. Our passenger for the evening was one of the Scouts committee leaders and also the head of a newly opened special needs school in Northampton. She was a first-time flyer and very excited.

Once the briefings and setup had been completed, we started to cold inflate. Almost as soon as the inflation fan started the wind picked up, however, knowing it would settle again, we persevered. Liam completed all of the final preparations and then carried out a really smooth inflation in challenging conditions. Once the balloon was upright the wind picked up even more, so Jamie took over until a decision was made whether to fly or not.

The balloon eventually settled enough for a safe launch; we got our passenger on board and then utilising the crew for ballast until we had sufficient lift to clear the trees downwind, we made a nice smooth take off much to the delight of the families watching. It was awesome to have such a great reaction to the balloon taking off and it clear everyone had a great time watching. Once we were in flight Liam took over again and completed the rest of the flight. Liam practised straight and level flying, high- and low-level approaches and then fifty-five minutes later after clearing the village of Wollaston, Liam completed his first landing with only verbal prompts from Jamie to help him. The ground crew were outside of the field when we touched down with some heading off to find the landowner and the rest helping to pack the balloon away. We were soon packed up and retrieved.

What a fantastic evening this turned out to be, a great event for the Scouts and a great training flight for Liam. Please find below a selection of photos from the event and flight. Permissions have been sought prior to posting. 

See you all on the next adventure and please check out our Youtube video from the flight – https://youtu.be/4yeSTzQWmmM?si=ycmAEGY5l9Jd_EJM