The Hot Air Balloon I went up in was a rainbow of colors, one of three owned and operated by a local ballooning company. For $125.00, a ride of at least forty minutes duration is promised and we were aloft for just under an hour. It's certainly serene when floating along through the air, but it is deafening when the pilot turns on the burners! A sharpening breeze blew our balloon further adrift that expected and we landed in a pasture amidst an interested herd of Hereford steers. The chase vehicle soon arrived, the pilot popped open a celebratory bottle of champagne (as promised in their literature), and I inquired about booking another flight!
Hot Air Ballooning is very popular nowadays, with clubs and ballooning companies offering rides and even instruction for wannabe pilots. However, the pastime is not new on the scene, in fact the very first hot air balloon rose from the ground in 1783. In France, the Montgolfier brothers were the early developers, sending up tethered balloons with no passengers, then experimenting with first geese and then a dog, and finally mustering the courage for two men to try it. The next step was an untethered balloon, which stayed up for 23 minutes flying over Paris, landing in a park in the Bois du Boulogne. They had little control over their balloon, a condition that exists to a great extent to the present day; basically the pilot still goes where the breeze blows him.
If you actually need to get somewhere, a hot air balloon is a fairly impractical vehicle. You can't really steer it other than rising or descending to find crosscurrents in the wind, and it only travels as fast as the wind blows. Hot air balloons are based on a very basic scientific principle: warmer air rises in cooler air because the hot air is lighter. A cubic foot of air weighs roughly 28 grams (about an ounce). If you heat that air by 100 degrees F, it weighs about 7 grams less. Therefore, each cubic foot of air contained in a hot air balloon can lift about 7 grams. That's not much, and this is why hot air balloons are so huge -- to lift 1, 000 pounds, you need about 65, 000 cubic feet of hot air!
Inside the balloon's envelope there is a constant variation between the pressure of the hot air against the top of the envelope versus the pull of gravity. The pilot's objective is to maintain equilibrium between the two forces through the judicious use of the propane-fueled burners, which are mounted on the gondola, which in turn is suspended under the open balloon. It takes a lot of practice to get the feel for achieving that near exact balancing act between ascent and descent.
The growing popularity of ballooning is reflected by the number of meets, the largest (certainly the oldest) of these probably being in Albuquerque, NM, where the meet has been in operation for thirty-four years. In 2005 there were over 600 balloons participating, most from the western United States, but also a few hardy souls who shipped their balloons in from Australia, the UK and elsewhere around the world. Officially termed the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, this year (2006) it will be running from October 6 -15, with over 700 balloons expected.
Another interesting aspect of hot air ballooning is the advertising facet. Clever designers and fabricators have come up with balloons that look like most anything that one can imagine. Last year at a local meet, I saw such oddities as Barney the Dinosaur, the Planters Peanuts man, a Shell Gas Pump, a soft ice cream cone and Senator Foghorn the Leghorn from cartoons, just to name a few. Some of the larger ones, like Barney, seemed quite unwieldy both to inflate and to fly. Balloonists sell advertising or enlist sponsors to underwrite their ballooning activities and it seems to work out fairly well for all concerned.
Most balloonists I've talked to have a well-developed sense of humor, a necessary asset when dealing with the vagaries of the prevailing winds. Our pilot told us this story; mostly I think to divert our attention while passing over an open stretch of water.
A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" The man below says: "yes you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field." "You must work in Information Technology" says the balloonist. "I do" replies the man. "How did you know?" "Well" says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone." The man below says, "You must work in Management". "I do" replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well", says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."
First Hot Air Balloon
During the French Revolutionary wars, air hot balloons were tethered above their military bases to watch for advancing Austrian enemies. In the American Civil War, the Union Army Balloon Corps apply limp silk envelopes, inflated with coke gas or hydrogen that were counteracted by the Confederate Army with the style hot air, or "hot smoke balloon."
Transitions came in series of modifications until hot air balloon was finally capable of taking off with human passengers that passed under King Louis XV1 decree in France, addressing condemned criminals to first pilot hot air balloons; but instead, petitioned to a physicist named, Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois d'Arlandes.
Today Giant Hot Air Balloons are indeed 'hot' as a commodity on luxury/leisure rides, or serving purposes for hire on corporate and commercial advertisements. Advertising balloons of all kinds open a better freedom advertising in general. Balloons flaunt or could be managed to be paraded in a motor vehicle and do not need-reinforced constructions. You could run your print outs in any form of gimmicks thru pictures that symbolizes your messages to attract clients.
Advantages to other Ads Type
l. No balloon is posted on ground level - Viewing high is going BIG in your aims in attaining effective returns from ads.
2. Giant Air Hot balloons get GIANT attention.
3. Air Advertising can go Coast-wise or metropolis to metropolis.
4. The Cheapest but most "striking" medium to sell products.
5. Saves fortunes in cost if you rent compared to media ads as in televisions and full-page dailies.
Advertising balloon hot air is most commonly used in advertising sports materials and accessories. Synonymously, balloons bearing ads that have to do with any sports games as basketball, and other sports exerting physical strength are "rocket" high attention grabber, the same way as sports throw are skyrocketed with the unusual command in skills and techniques synchronizing with body strength capabilities.
Hot air advertising balloons are considered as one of the fastest growing form of advertising today. Using an advertising balloon to increase brand awareness is just like having your very own billboard. Hot air balloons can easily attract attention, which is the objective of effective advertising. Hot air advertising balloons help give a lasting impact anywhere.
Hot air advertising balloons are very effective in affecting the behavioral patterns of a large community. The hot air advertising balloons themselves can generate the sales for you. But with it, you can expect more traffic, increased awareness and attention towards the brand that you are advertising. Used to complement traditional advertising methods, hot air balloon advertising can be quite a killer combo for business owners.
And because of their high attraction level among spectators, hot-air balloons are an advertising method that generates the highest retention by their impact made. With a hot air advertising balloon, it is like creating a great spectacle in the sky. Its lofty position in the sky is likely to be remembered by all who have the chance to see it. This makes this method of advertisement the most effective of all. Here are some very telling examples:
A hot air advertising balloon seen soaring through the sky in a city has the ability to catch the attention of 90% of the people who are just going around at that moment. With its high position providing an unhindered view from all sides, hot air advertising balloons allow 60% of these people to stop and take a good look at them.
It is known that about 95% of these people mention to friends and loved ones seeing the hot-air balloon, thereby creating a kind of word of mouth advertising that can generate a lot of indirect brand awareness for companies and other businesses. In addition, there are about 90% of these spectators who will remember seeing the hot air advertising balloon for many years to come, providing a lasting impression that advertisers and companies look for when they advertise.
The largest advantage hot air advertising balloons is that it provides a fast and flexible outreach that can have an impact so most number of people, no matter what the age group they belong to. It has been a proven method of trying to reach out to many people at any one time. Advertising on hot-air balloons is by far the best and most unique and spectacular form of publicity today.
The largest manufacturers of hot air balloon are the Cameron Balloons of Bristol and the Lindstrand Balloons of Oswestry in England. Running second close is Aerostar International, Inc., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and U.S.A.
Satisfactory flights of Hot Air Balloons are best during cooler hours, probably at dawn and two to three hours before sunset. These hour-sessions in flight are conducive to launching up in air and landing. Winds are light devoid of thermals (vertical air currents, caused by ground heating) that cause complications in flying balloons. At extremes, the downdraft associated with strong thermals causes the ability of the balloon to climb, and could forced landing instead.
Both Michael Russell & Low Jeremy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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