Hello and welcome to our latest blog!

It has been a busy few weeks for the Molly Mae Ballooning team, with back-to-back weekends at two of the biggest events on the UK ballooning calendar – the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and the Northampton Balloon Festival.

With plenty of flying, some fantastic balloons, new experiences, trainee pilots, a little bit of weather frustration and even a very important milestone for the team, it has certainly been a fortnight to remember!

So, let’s start where it all began – Bristol.

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta

For Bristol, we once again agreed to collaborate with MJ Ballooning to operate their Panasonic-sponsored balloon, G-OKCP. We travelled down on Thursday 6th August, collected the balloon and got ourselves set up ready for what looked like a promising weekend.

And promising it certainly was!

Friday

Friday morning dawned with near-perfect ballooning weather. We launched and slowly headed towards Keynsham before the wind direction changed and we found ourselves heading back towards the Fiesta site.

As we descended to lower levels, we eventually landed near the site, giving us a fantastic start to the weekend.

For this flight, Jamie had the pleasure of flying Liam Twort and his partner Annaliese, who was experiencing her very first hot air balloon flight.

For a first flight, she certainly picked a good one! Flying amongst a hundred other balloons including the amazing new Sendmybag.com special shape was an experience to remember.

Friday afternoon saw us taking part in the ever-popular ‘Meet the Pilot’ session. We took our basket along and spent time chatting to members of the public, answering questions and hopefully giving people a little insight into what goes on behind the scenes in ballooning.

The session was really well received and it was great to see so many people interested in the sport.

Friday evening brought a slightly trickier decision. The wind was initially a little breezy, but as the evening progressed the conditions began to settle.

Rather than launching early, we made the decision to wait until towards the end of the launch window when the wind had slowed.

It proved to be the right decision. We launched into the evening sky and headed towards over the city.

We saw a balloon ahead try to land at Netham Park but they just missed it. Adjusting our height to get the right speed and direction we managed to get a perfect track. We then landed on the cricket circle to the delight of the crowds gathered there.

This flight was particularly exciting for us as two of our trainee pilots, Liam Menzies and Liam Goldring, were able to fly as passengers. Both helped out at various stages of the flight and it was a really valuable learning experience for them.

Saturday

Saturday morning once again brought almost perfect conditions.

This time our route took us towards Failand, with Jamie flying team member Reanna alongside Luke from MJ Ballooning.

We flew out over the quarry before eventually finding a suitable landing spot. We were lucky enough to land with a brilliant landowner who is a regular supporter of the Fiesta.

It is easy to forget sometimes just how important the cooperation of landowners is to ballooning. Without people willing to let balloons land and be recovered, events like Bristol simply wouldn’t be possible. Bristol is saturated with no landing zones so finding a decent landowner is like striking gold, its really important to show your appreciation.

Saturday afternoon saw Liam Menzies and Liam Goldring return to the ‘Meet the Pilot’ session, giving us another opportunity to talk about ballooning and share our experiences.

Unfortunately, Saturday evening didn’t go quite as planned.

The wind direction and speed weren’t ideal and, after careful consideration, we made the difficult decision not to fly.

As balloonists, we always want to be up there, particularly when we’re surrounded by hundreds of people waiting to watch the balloons launch. But safety has to come first.

There is an old ballooning saying:

“It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.”

And sometimes, that’s exactly the decision that has to be made. There were no regrets from the team on this decision either. Plus we got to enjoy the glow which was spectacular.

Sunday

Our final morning in Bristol once again dawned with beautiful conditions.

For the final flight of the Fiesta, Jamie flew Jon Robinson and Chris Hayden.

We eventually landed in a park in Bristol, alongside the Longleat Koala balloon. Before long, around a dozen other balloons had also arrived and the park quickly became a hive of activity.

For the members of the public who happened to be there, it must have been quite a sight!

And just like that, our Bristol adventure was over.

Four flights, plenty of public engagement and some fantastic flying made it another brilliant Fiesta – and our collaboration with MJ Ballooning had once again been a great success.

But there wasn’t much time to rest…

A Very Important Milestone

Between Bristol and Northampton, Jamie achieved something that has been a huge personal goal for some time.

He successfully completed his check-out to become a qualified hot air balloon flight instructor.

After many years of flying, and a real passion for training, this was a particularly special milestone.

It also marks the beginning of another exciting chapter for Molly Mae Ballooning, with the potential to help train and develop the next generation of balloon pilots.

And there was no better way to celebrate than by heading straight into another festival weekend!

Northampton Balloon Festival

The weather forecast for Northampton initially looked far less promising than Bristol. The early predictions ranged from poor to mixed, but as the weekend approached things began to improve.

As it turned out, we managed to squeeze in quite a lot of ballooning.

Friday

We started Friday 14th August with an unofficial morning flight.

Jamie had the pleasure of flying with Peter Lickorish in his beautiful vintage Cameron Viva 65, whilst Liam Menzies took the opportunity to have an instructor flight with Ian Warrington (Jamies paperwork wasn’t in yet).

Liam also had another reason to be excited as he took his girlfriend Ellie up for her very first balloon flight.

It’s always fantastic to see somebody experience ballooning for the first time, and even better when you’re able to share that experience with someone close to you.

Friday afternoon was unfortunately too breezy for a flight, but we still managed to get two vintage envelopes out and inflated.

Ryan Moule brought along his Cameron Viva 77, while Cameron Tovey’s O-65, G-SMIG, was also inflated.

The evening flight was eventually cancelled because of the winds, but we still got involved in a basket glow, giving everyone something to enjoy despite the weather.

Saturday

Saturday morning was another casualty of the wind, with the flight cancelled.

However, Saturday afternoon gave us an opportunity to get involved with a tether using G-TIMX.

This proved to be another important moment for the Molly Mae Ballooning team.

Both Jamie and Liam were able to get signed off – Jamie as an instructor and Liam for his pilot licence.

After a rather frustrating start to the day, things were suddenly looking much more positive!

And then came Saturday evening.

The forecast had improved drastically and, with the conditions finally looking suitable, we were able to launch G-OAWS alongside more than 20 other balloons.

It was a brilliant sight to see the sky fill with balloons once again.

We headed towards Preston Deanery and eventually landed with a lovely landowner, bringing another successful flight to a close. This was one of the best flights for the Northampton Festival in recent years.

Sunday – The Cornetto!

Sunday morning was particularly special.

We had another collaboration with MJ Ballooning, this time flying their fantastic Cornetto special shape, G-OZOE.

This was only the third flight of the Cornetto in the UK, so we were incredibly excited to be involved.

Jamie had the pleasure of flying with Howard Cusden and his granddaughter Eadie.

Cornetto was the first balloon away from the field and it certainly attracted attention. Watching a giant Cornetto-shaped balloon take to the Northamptonshire skies is not something you see every day!

We headed away from the festival site and eventually landed just two fields away from where we had landed the previous evening.

It was a fantastic flight and another very memorable experience.

Later in the day, we helped Ryan inflate his balloon again, as well as getting Cornetto back on the field for an inflation.

Unfortunately, the wind soon picked up, putting an end to any further tethering with the special shapes. We had hoped to get out the British Balloon Museum and Library Coffee jar but had to cancel this.

We also had the opportunity to help Howard Cusden inflate the mighty G-BWNP, which was quite a sight in itself. Jamie and Howard once flew the can in 2012. It was an easy flight. One burner on to keep the balloon level, two on to go up and if you turned them off it would drop like a stone. Well that’s how we tell the story anyway! It wasn’t that dramatic but the balloon was certainly at the end of its flying life when we flew it.

One Last Flight

Despite the increasingly challenging conditions, we were incredibly fortunate to squeeze in one final evening flight.

This time it was our own Cameron Z-90, G-CIUB.

Jamie flew with his former flight instructor, Ian Warrington, which made the flight particularly special.

The inflation and take-off were certainly not for the faint-hearted, with the wind making things rather lively and requiring plenty of help from the other crews and meet safety director Jon Tyrell.

But once we were away, we had a fantastic flight and eventually landed near Castle Ashby.

A challenging inflation, a great flight and a good landing made for a very satisfying way to finish the weekend.

What a Fortnight!

When looking back at everything that happened across the two weekends, it’s quite a list.

Across Bristol and Northampton we managed:

• Four flights at Bristol.
• A further four flights at Northampton.
• Flights in G-OKCP, G-TIMX, G-OAWS, G-CIUB and G-OZOE.
• The opportunity to fly the Cornetto special shape on only its third UK flight.
• Tethering.
• Meet the Pilot and Meet the Public sessions.
• Basket glows.
• Helping other crews.
• Supporting vintage balloon inflations.
• Plenty of travelling, packing, unpacking and repacking!
• And, perhaps most importantly, progressing the next generation of balloon pilots.

For Jamie personally, becoming a qualified instructor in the middle of all this made the fortnight even more memorable.

Ballooning is a sport that relies so heavily on teamwork. From the pilot in the basket to the crew on the ground, the landowners who allow us to land, the organisers who put these fantastic events together and the public who turn out to watch us – there are a huge number of people who make a weekend like this possible.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped us over these two weekends.

A huge thank you also goes to MJ Ballooning for another fantastic collaboration and for allowing us to operate G-OKCP and G-OZOE.

Please visit the MJ Ballooning website here https://www.mjballooning.com/

Two festivals, countless miles, a lot of early mornings, plenty of hard work and some truly memorable flights.

And honestly?

We wouldn’t have it any other way. 🎈

Check out some additional photos below!