The action started soon after our arrival as the various pilots prepared the inflate their ballons firstly with cold air blowers and then the burners blowing heated air into the 14 balloons that were all attached with ropes to the vehicles on the field. A youngster had made a model hot air balloon that was remotely controlled and it was launched, but the restraining tether rope broke probably due to the flames that were used to fill the micro balloon with hot air. It floated away on the gentle easterly wind, but soon came down intact on the other side of the forest.
The grand finale was reached soon after sunset when the whole balloon field went quiet and the announcer counted down the light up by all the balloons for a few moments, which created the spectacular night glow that everyone had come to witness. Thereafter it was time to catch up with many of the balloon pilots, some of whom I have known for the past 24 years. Thank you to Jacquie Pastor and her tremendous team at Bill Harrop’s ‘Original’ Balloon Safaris for a great night’s entertainment.
Some background
In 1981 Bill Harrop’s ‘Original’ Balloon Safaris was founded and continued with Bill and Mary at the helm for 40 years. They were constantly amazed at their good fortune to have built an amazing team of great people whose goals and actions aligned with their objectives. Their objective was never to be ‘big’ but rather ‘to focus on more satisfying business goals’ such as being the ‘best at what we do’ by creating a stimulating place to work, providing exceptional customer service and making important contributions to our community.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2024 de African Pilot.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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FACT FILE - THE UNCONVENTIONAL, BIZARRE BELL AIRACUDA
Larry Bell, founder of the Bell Aircraft Corp., now known as Bell Helicopter, entered the aircraft manufacturing industry with a unique bang. After dropping out of high school in 1912, Bell worked for various aircraft companies, including Martin and Consolidated, before starting his own company in 1935.
BEST OF THE BEST - THE DE HAVILLAND MUSEUM
Situated just outside the centre of London the de Havilland Museum is to be found and although small and compact it is an absolute joy, celebrating as it does the exploits of one of Britain's foremost aviation pioneers, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland an aircraft designer of some repute who left an incredible legacy, and made a massive impact on aircraft design and production in the early part of the 20th century.
PILATUS PC-24
The Pilatus PC-24 is a light business jet produced by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Following the PC-12 single turboprop success, work on the jet project started in 2007 for greater range and speed.
HONDAJET
Founded in 2006, Honda Aircraft Company is the latest venture in Honda's drive to enhance the freedom of mobility.
Absolute Service Centre AMO 173
As the only Textron Aviation authorised service facility on the African Continent and the oldest Cessna authorised service facility outside the USA since 1964, Absolute’s Service Centre has also been awarded representation for the Beechcraft and Textron eAviation Pipistrel portfolio. Absolute Service Centre (ASC) is the African regional representatives of the worldwide Textron 1CALL hotline support network. The management team at the Absolute Service Centre is proud of its heritage and long-standing support and representation of Textron Aviation products.
Spatial distortion
On Wednesday, 20 December 2023, a pilot and two transmission line workers on-board a Bell 407 helicopter with registration ZS-RXO took off from Majuba Venus Power Station landing zone (LZ) in KwaZulu-Natal province to conduct aerial work on the T299 mast (a section of Majuba Venus Power Station). The pilot intended to land back at the departure landing zone.
Dinosaur Derby at the Bill Harrop's Balloon field
When we arrived at the Dinosaur Derby late on Saturday afternoon 27 April there were already around two hundred invited guests that had set up their chairs and picnic tables on the lush green slopes of the lawns outside the beautiful clubhouse overlooking the very large balloon launch field with the majestic Magaliesberg Mountains as the backdrop.
EAA Young Aviators - April 2024 Wonderboom meeting
On Saturday, 13 April 2024 the EAA Young Aviators event was kindly hosted by Loutzavia Flight School at Wonderboom National Airport.
AIRBUS - ACJ Executive Jets
This mindset combined with curating the finest flying experience is why ACJ was born.
Five of the most expensive private jets in the world
When modern jetliners came into existence, only a few privileged wealthy people would get onboard an aircraft. But half a century later, more people have access to air travel than we might have imagined.
