What do you need to know about flying an air balloon?

Flying an air balloon is one of the most unique and, at the same time, popular types of active sport. However, it has become popular rather recently, despite the fact that aerostats were used as a vehicle already in the middle of XVIII century.

Today there exist many clubs of aerostatic sports, offering sky trips, which are absolutely safe and rather inexpensive. A traveler can choose, when and where to fly, on what height, and how much time to spend in the air.

Besides, fans of extreme sports do not have to limit themselves with staying in the basket – they can take a parachute and fearlessly jump down to from the 500-meter height.

Yet even the standard sightseeing flight will not remain you indifferent. One seldom gets a chance to see the well-known places from bird’s-eye view, watch the wonderful sceneries, and feel absolute freedom. But if you get this chance, you need to use it at most!

Air balloon can be referred to tourism since in the process of traveling you can see (at least from above) the places you have always wanted to visit.

But, as any other type of tourism, air balloon has its own rules. It is, first of all, the question of safety rules and possible flight conditions. So, if after considering all the possible variants and have finally decided to take up air balloon and have found the club,

You need to:

1. Know the number of people in your company in advance and keep in mind that the aerostat basket can contain only 6-7 people at one time.
   
2. Discuss the desired height, route, and duration of the flight. As a rule, the time for amateurs cannot me more than 1 hour. You need to consider weather conditions (speed of the wind, probability of precipitations etc.) and the time of sun activity.
   
   If it is your first flight, remember that the maximum speed of wind should not exceed 2-3 meters per second. Anyway, the sports club you choose for the trip will give you all the required advice.
   
3. Decide whether it will be a simple introductory flight or, say, an excursion around a particular territory. Or, maybe, you would like to celebrate someone’s Birthday in the air? Perhaps, you would like to include a parachute jump?
   
   In this case, you will have to take a short training course where the instructor will teach you the main principles of jumping and will give you the proper equipment. You should also remember to wear the closes fitting with the parachute sport rules.
   
4. Regardless of the flight you take, you should precisely follow all orders of the instructor and keep safety techniques on the aerostat. For example, you must not run or jump in the basket, lean over its sides or do any other actions while being in the air.
   
5. Alcohol drinks are not prohibited, but their excessive consumption may lead to tragic consequences.

And, finally, you need to understand clearly, that the flight itself is not the safest kind of rest (each participant has to pay for the insurance) and an air balloon is not the most reliable transport. Moreover, it is not very well controlled in the horizontal plane.

So, if you are not sure about your state at the height of 500 meters or you think you will not get the desired pleasure from being in a big wooden box, which is being blown somewhere by the wind flows – better give preference to some traditional kinds of rest. Go to the beach or take a bike trip with your friends.