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Anyone been on a balloon ride?

  • I'm taking my Mom to Vegas for her birthday and I'm surprising her with a balloon ride. Neither of us have any fear of heights so I'm expecting a fantastic experience.

    Has anyone else had the pleasure of dangling in a wicker basket up in the air?

    signature image

    RCMB Join Date: September 2001

    Pinky Tuscadero

  • I did once. Short, low ride. Still had me curled up in the fetal position in the bottom of the basket due to my intense fear of heights. One of the worst experiences of my life.

    Nommad

  • Once...very cool experience. As long as you don't look straight down, the fear of heights thing isn't so bad. Surprisingly loud when they light the burners, but otherwise very peaceful.

    Great gift. Good luck! {old thumbsup}

    "Leave the gun.....take the cannoli" "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel."

    Son of Sparta ●

  • Bungee jumped out of a balloon in New Zealand.

    Motown Spartan ●

  • goodbar said...

    no, the bungee cord was too long. he ended up IN New Zealand.

    Meh....on New Zealand.

    "Leave the gun.....take the cannoli" "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel."

    Son of Sparta ●

  • Bob Sakimano said...

    I'm guessing you were actually over New Zealand.. shrug

    In New Zealand airspace.

    Motown Spartan ●

  • No never riden in one but have crewed for my uncle. Oh and by the way my uncle owns the Sparty Balloon. Im sure some of you have seen him flying, he flies all over Michigan.

    bizarreagain

  • Pinky Tuscadero said...

    Has anyone else had the pleasure of dangling in a wicker basket up in the air?

    Im sure plenty of people have. Or are you asking if anyone ON THIS BOARD has had that pleasure? cause those are two different questions.

    If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. Jimmy Valvano

    GatorBill ●

  • Yes, went while visiting Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Very cool experience. It was interesting gliding silently over wildlife and then watching them freak out when the burners lit.

    TravelinMan

  • Bob Sakimano said...

    blank

    I think you and your mother have a different sort of relationship than I do with mine...

    I may have seen Pinky and her mom in a video. . . . . .

    If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. Jimmy Valvano

    GatorBill ●

  • Its been 20 years, but it was really cool. You will love it.

    And for some reason this song popped into my head.

    Play

    99 red ballons - Nena

    This is the video 99 red ballons (english version) by nena

    http://www.youtube.com/v/14IRDDnEPR4

    I like to play "bathroom detective". Corn?! I didn't eat any corn!

    Kraig

  • GatorBill said...

    I may have seen Pinky and her mom in a video. . . . . .

    lol nope, no video there

    She's turning 70 and I just wanted to do something memorable for her. My fear is that she'll suddenly develop this horrible fear of heights and I just threw $$ to the wind (literally).

    signature image

    RCMB Join Date: September 2001

    Pinky Tuscadero

  • Bob Sakimano said...

    is Leather chippin' in on the birthday present?

    nope...she's a stuck out on tour with Joanie

    signature image

    RCMB Join Date: September 2001

    Pinky Tuscadero

  • here's an idea...

    you got to this balloon station, but instead of actually getting on the balloon and freezing your ass up in the atmosphere, there are several Three Dimensional (TD or also 3D as it's known in the states) HD cameras on board shooting out 8 ways to form a near circle. Then, below on the ground, where it's safe and warm, you're in this room and watching everything on tv with TD glasses.

    tVargMan Prime

  • My wife and I took a morning hot air baloon ride over the Napa Valley...including AM wake up coffee and pastries followed by full breakfast with champagne after the ride. The ride was simply spectacular, beautiful and one of the best things we've ever done. ..It wasn't cheap..but it was worth every penny and we'd do it again in a heart beat (the wine tour the rest of the entire day through the Napa Valley was pretty cool too!)

    Fort Wayne Dave

  • VargMan said...

    here's an idea...

    you got to this balloon station, but instead of actually getting on the balloon and freezing your ass up in the atmosphere, there are several Three Dimensional (TD or also 3D as it's known in the states) HD cameras on board shooting out 8 ways to form a near circle. Then, below on the ground, where it's safe and warm, you're in this room and watching everything on tv with TD glasses.

    I already asked about the temp up there. It will be the same as on the ground. At 7am in Vegas right now that seems to be around 45-50 degrees

    signature image

    RCMB Join Date: September 2001

    Pinky Tuscadero

  • Many times.

    signature image

    RPMadMSU

  • No; but had 2 land near our home. One just missed our house cuplola - they were pumping gas like mad to gain altitude.Landed without incident.

    The 2nd landed about 100 feet from the house; and one of the passengers broke her leg because of a rough landing. As the basket hit, a gust of wind took the balloon back up and dragged the basket sideways for about 50 feet.She was thrown out. EMS had to have a helicopter land in our field because of how wet the field was. No vehicle could get close.

    For this reason I'm staying on my recliner.

    Philly Spartan

  • There are some freaky balloon videos on youtube.

    Chitown_Badger ●

  • Son of Sparta said...

    Once...very cool experience. As long as you don't look straight down, the fear of heights thing isn't so bad. Surprisingly loud when they light the burners, but otherwise very peaceful.

    Great gift. Good luck! {old thumbsup}

    This Burners are loud. Also, you will learn how well sound travels when not impeded by trees, buildings, etc: when sound goes up, it can travel a long way. We could hear people on the ground having conversations as we went low over houses, etc. Also, you can scare the hell out of someone on the ground as the baloon is VERY quiet without burners blasting, so when going low over people that do not see you, the burner gets their attention fast

    But loved it and have now done a few times.

    buckeyesparty

  • Took a hot air balloon ride over Lancaster county, PA. a couple years ago. Farmland, cows and waving Amish kids aren't very exciting. Pretty expensive but it was worth it, cool experience. Watch out for the landing, our pilot told us to duck and hang on as we skidded about 30 yards through a field.

    And I am afraid of heights, which wasn't an issue. The sensation of height is apparently not as much of an issue when you are free floating, as opposed to standing on something attached to the ground.

    This post was edited by SpartanDO2001 on 2/24/2012 at 12:34 PM

    SpartanDO2001

  • No and I'm absolutely terrified to do so.

    signature image

    TheBlitzIsOn ●

  • I did once. It's very cool, but you have to remember you have no control over where you go. None.

    We had a very difficult time finding a suitable spot to come down, and long story short, in the end my dad and I were left behind when we got out to try to pull it away from some trees in the scrub and had to hoof it out to a road where the chase vehicle found us. My sister stayed aboard, and finally they cleared out into someones back yard and put it down, running out of fuel in the last 15-20 feet for a pretty hard landing.

    UM grad was pilot. That was probably our first mistake. biggrin

    Still, I would go again, and have narrowly missed the opportunity to do so.

    MacSparty

  • Pinky Tuscadero said...

    I'm taking my Mom to Vegas for her birthday and I'm surprising her with a balloon ride. Neither of us have any fear of heights so I'm expecting a fantastic experience.

    Has anyone else had the pleasure of dangling in a wicker basket up in the air?

    My wife and I did this last summer. Somewhere south of Lansing in the Mason area. People were great.

    Interesting experience. It was cool, but I could see that it go awry quite quickly. The views were very cool and glad we did it. A few observations:

    #1) The gas burner is loud and hot. Sort of forced you to lean way out.

    #2) Taking off was interesting. They get the thing lift/weight just about correct and then you mad scramble into the basket to join the guy.

    #3) They have absolutely zero idea where they are going. I guess I should have expected this, but they have no control. The only way they can somewhat control direction is by moving up or down to get into different wind velocities. It was sort of funny to watch the ground team racing down dirt roads to try to keep up.

    #4) Landing is crazy. The guy looked for a somewhat open field and just set it down. His logic was trees are bad, power lines worse, field = good. We ended up half sideways in a bramble bush patch. Took a few scratches, but nothing bad.

    Few pics below.

    attachmentattachment

    Carl_N

  • My wife and I were in Aspen about twelve years ago and took a balloon ride. Enjoyed it a lot. Had to get up early for a morning ride so we could go DOWN the mountain. Very gentle trip, avoided the planes coming into the airport glide path (!). Saw John Denver's compound, elk grazing, drug dealer's house.

    Great time, no sense of motion or fear of height. Would love to do it again.

    Roger B

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