Well, here we are again, another week and another event report. This time the breakdown of the very windy, yet very successful Northampton Balloon Festival.
The Northampton Balloon Festival holds a very special place in most of the team’s heart. This is the event where most of us found our passion for ballooning in the first place. The event is now back on the Racecourse and is getting better year by year.
This year the team had a bold plan. We wanted to fly and display all the balloons under our care. All we needed was perfect weather to pull it off. Sadly, that wasn’t to be, but we persevered and made the best of it.
The event formally opened on Friday the 15th of August in the afternoon. However, there was a good flying slot in the morning, so the team jumped on this. We teamed up again to fly Vista Balloon Flights Z-120 for the morning. On board were our pilot Jamie, Roofcare Pilot Howard, Jamie’s old flying instructor Ian and photographer Kyle Tate.
We were joined by two other balloons and set off in perfect conditions. The flight was fantastic from start to finish. Quick up top but slow near to the ground thanks to a surface inversion. Due to the quicker upper winds, we covered a good distance and landed on a new build near to a little village called Moulsoe, just outside of Newport Pagnell. We landed on what will be the estates playing field so we can say that we are the first balloon to ever land on it!
After the flight we headed back to drop off the Vista trailer. We then had breakfast together and then collected our own balloons and kit ready for the afternoon. The afternoon winds were very gusty which sadly meant no flying. However we were determined to help put on a show. We set up our basket on the fence line to give the public an awesome photo booth and opportunity to learn more about ballooning. We also had the privilege of inflating the old Babybel balloon “Mr Cool”.
Mr Cool was a festival favourite in the 90’s and is now in the care of Gerard van der Pluijm. Gerard is a commercial pilot and balloon enthusiast from the Netherlands who has an ever-growing collection of balloons. We all appreciated the opportunity to work on Mr Cool and once he was up, he stunned the crowds.
After Mr Cool was down and packed away, we had a short rest before our next tether. Trainee pilot Liam Menzies wanted to get his balloon G-OAWS out to tether in front of the ITV crew that was present. It looked absolutely fantastic in the background of their report. After the tether we set our basket up for the evening glow which was completed by Liam Goldring and Liam Menzies. Sadly, the morning flight was cancelled ahead of time due to the ever-increasing wind. At least we got a lay in.
We kicked off Saturday and day two of the festival with more public interactions. Half the team manned the basket, whilst the other half teamed up with the Butlers Team to tether some balloons and promote our friends at the British Balloon Museum and Library. First up was a balloon that was over fifty years old! Pilot Jonathan Harris from Newbury inflated the balloon and did well displaying it for the crowds.
Next up was G-BLXF our late friend Peter Lawman’s first balloon. Inflating this at the festival was special for two reasons, firstly Pete loved the event and secondly his daughters were in the crowd watching. Our pilot Jamie inflated G-BLXF, and the balloon stood up to the wind really well. After a short inflation BLXF was brought down and we all took a short break. We later inflated G-OAWS again much to the delight of the crowd. As well as our efforts multiple other teams inflated balloons, and it turned into a mini-inflation day with lots of older balloons on display.
Finally, to round off the day we completed a second basket glow, this time with Liam Menzies and Liam Twort at the controls. Considering there was no flying on the Saturday it was very busy for us, and we got a lot done. We had hundreds of people through our basket and did our best to promote ballooning and put on a show. However, instead of another lay in, the weather for Sunday morning was looking decent. If you were willing to be up and away early.
As our team are gluttons for punishment/keen we were on the field at 0430 hours on Sunday morning for the final day of the festival. This was a special morning as we planned to get G-BVZT – Molly Mae in the air. Thanks to team members and trainee pilots Liam Twort and Liam Goldring the balloon has a new certificate of airworthiness and is good to go for a year.
We set the balloon up in good time and got the green light to fly from the pilots briefing. Liam Twort completed his first inflation and did well despite the nerves! After our pre-flight checks we were up and away alongside Matt in the Vista Z-120. We flew over Northampton towards Kislingbury. This time around we stayed low but legal to take advantage of the slower winds. We landed on a farm just outside of Kislingbury and then manoeuvred the balloon to the gate for an easy pack up in case we couldn’t get hold of the landowner. We were soon joined in the field by the old Durex balloon piloted by Paul Coman.
Our team gave Paul a hand packing his balloon away and then headed back to the festival site. G-BVZT still flies well, she is porous but will make a fantastic training balloon for the two Liams and will hopefully see the pair through their license. When we got back, we assisted team member and fellow pilot Katie Gower with tethering her balloon G-CLNS. G-CLNS is a home build balloon bult by Katie and Tim Wilkinson. The balloon looked fantastic, and it was great to see Katie building her confidence.
We finished off the day and the event with more public interaction where we had hundreds of people through the basket again. Sadly, due to the winds there was no more flying.
Over the weekend the team managed two flights, five tethers, two basket glows and tonnes of public interaction. We welcomed two new members of the team and helped numerous other teams as well. On top of this we worked hard to promote the British Balloon Museum and Library and ballooning in general.
A fantastic weekend despite the weather, and it’s brilliant to see the event growing year by year. Well done to the organisers, the balloonists, our wonderful team and of course the public who without them turning up wind rain or shine, we wouldn’t have an event.
There is no rest for the wicked and the team is now gearing up for our third event in a row with the Silverstone Balloon Classic which is on from the 22nd to the 25th of August. Look out for more updates in the coming week!
Check out friends at the BBML here – https://www.bbml.org.uk/ .
Check out Vista Balloon Flights here https://www.vistaballoonflights.co.uk/ .
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