Hot Air Ballooning • Secrets of Flight Preparation • for FREE!

Preparing a Hot Air Balloon for Flight

Our Wine Glasses

The balloon is prepared by spreading the envelope (the big fabric portion) out on the ground, with the basket attached to it and lying over on its side.

White

Blues

Music!

Celebrate

Party!

Music!

Cocktails

Balloons Rise in the Early Morning!

A gasoline-powered fan is normally used to inflate the balloon with cold air until it is packed full, and then the propane burners are ignited to heat the balloon up. At this point, the balloon will slowly stand up, and then it's the ground crews' job to hold the basket down with their collective weight while the pilot continues his preflight checks and boards passengers. When all is ready to go, the pilot gives his crew the signal for "weight off," and with a few more blasts of the burner, takes to the sky!

Basically, a balloon flies because the air inside the envelope is hotter than the air outside (known as ambient air). Although some people prefer more technical explanations, it really is that simple! The burners heat the air inside and allow the pilot to control the rate of ascent & descent. When it's time to come down, the pilot can either let the air in the envelope cool off on its own, or he can open a vent at the top of the balloon to let some air out - either way works. When it's time to land, the pilot will open the deflation port all the way to spill the air out the top and deflate the balloon. The balloon will then lie on its side and patiently wait to be packed up by the pilot and crew.

Getting Engaged or Married in a Balloon?

Great, perhaps you are planning a surprise engagement. Better have the champagne! We mean your Champagne Sunglasses that is!

And don't forget your Wedding Engagement Sunglasses either. Whether you are going up in Napa, Sonoma or Albuquerque, our fun sunglasses will add to the fun!

Fun Stuff!

Turn 40!

Love 50!

60 is hot!

Ms Liberty

Wedding!

To fly a hot air balloon, you must become an F.A.A. licensed balloon pilot.

There are two levels of balloon pilot ratings. The first is a private pilot. The pilot must have at least 10 hours of flight time in free balloons; must pass a written test, oral test and flight check prior to being issued a private pilot’s license by the FAA.

The second rating is a commercial pilot. The commercial pilot must have at least 35 hours of flight time in free balloons; must pass an additional written, oral and flight check prior to being issued a commercial pilot’s license by the FAA.

Jackie O Sunglasses

Cheap Elvis Sunglasses

Will you be celebrating New Years Eve in a Hot Air Balloon?

We have put together a backstage tour of the big New Year's Eve celebration that takes place in New York City's Times Square each year. We show you some of the ways the NYPD, that is the New York City Police Department, uses crowd management equipment to create spaces for visitors to watch the ball drop.

You will also see the statue in Duffy Square, the grandstands built for the media, VIPS, celebrities and performers. There's a little bit of history included on the page where we showcase on of the older buildings in Times Square. You'll see the broadcasting equipment and take a mini sidetrip to look at some of the artwork underground in the subway station.

The creative event planner will have a host of innovative ideas in his or her basket of choices to present to the client. Among these choices should be a collection of our unique and inexpensive sunglasses. Pictured to the left is a pair of gold champagne sunglasses which can be used for many, many, many special function invitations.
Sure, any DJ can bring a bubble machine to an evening event, but how many will bring the champagne bubbles and put them right on the nose of your guests?

white daisy with yellow center and green leaves hot air balloon against a blue sky with other special shapes

Balloons

Hot Air Balloon Festivals are so much fun to attend. So many people are involved with ballooning as a sport! Pictures of ballooning events, such as that picture included here on the left, intrigue the public each year as annual balloon festivals are covered by the local media including newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and of course, the internet!

A lot of people who might be interested in visiting one of these hot air balloon fiestas should know some key details. For example, these festivals are often held on large flat "parade grounds" and the grounds are often open from dawn until well after dusk. That's the tricky part for the typical visitor, these balloon ascensions are held when the atmosphere is at is lightest and that is when the sun has not yet heated up the air in the atmosphere. That means that the ascensions are held are held in the early morning hours and the early evening hours. In the United States during the summertime, that can mean 5 AM or 5:30 AM for the first lift and 7:00 PM or 7:30 PM for the sunset rise.

More about Balloons (continued from top)

We sort of wax philosophic about balloons. All kids of balloons, balloons are a surprisingly wide ranging topic. Just look above at the hot air balloon. You may not have been searching for the helium balloon variety, more likely looking for birthday balloons, but voila! An inflatable balloon such as the kind you ride into the air is a balloon indeed!

You may not have known that a bunch of balloons is known in the balloon industry as balloon bouquets. It is simple to understand once you hear the term. A lot of event planners have a list of their favorite balloon professionals. Party planners know the importance of balloon sculptures at a party and their Rolodex is sure to dial up their favorite balloon company or balloon twisters early in the party planning process.

Event managers also need wholesale sources for things such as napkins, plastic cutlery, silverware, tablecloths and the like, although a lot of catering vendors need the markup on these items. In these cases, the catering company would not like at all to handle party goods purchased by another. Party Balloons, they're cheap enough, that's OK.

There is a bit of a debate about balloon releases and the use of mylar, latex and rubber balloons. Those who are balloon advocates argue that latex is a natural product from trees and will degrade in the same time as an oak leaf. Opponents point out that in the meanwhile, before the degradation, there is ample time for rotting latex rubber balloons to be swallowed by an animal or for it to tangle in the feet of a bird or other ground creature. Those who are considering balloon releases should know the parameters of the local laws (for some states have outlawed balloon releases), and consider the environmental impact before going ahead and just letting hundreds of balloons go into the air.

You know some balloon releases cause the balloons to rise up, other balloon release styles cause the balloons to drop down! Everyone is trying to find a source for these cheap balloons. Use our list to find one!

Politcal conventions use printed balloons and balloon drops. Conventions are famous for balloon drops from the ceiling of convention centers, ballrooms and fundraising theaters. Can you imagine the rush of seeing imprinted balloons falling from the sky with your name emblazoned on them! It's almost as much fun as exploding hydrogen balloons!

And of course, New Year's Eve is a big balloon party time. At the stroke of midnight at a big New Year's Eve Party silver or gold balloons will drop from the ceiling. And then there are the parade balloons like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Every American loves watching the parade come down Broadway in New York City. Did you know the parade starts right across the street from the city's Central Park? Those helium balloons are an American Treasure. Did you know the red star of the Macy's logo is there in honor of the ship that RHMacy sailed on as a young man, the Red Star. All the sailors on board had a red star tatoo on their hands.

Master Balloon Twisters turn those long skinny balloons into true balloon art. It's way beyond balloon animals now! Balloon sculptures are always a big hit at parties and bar mitzvahs the world over. Even the excitement of a carnival or circus is made more thrilling for a child if they can bring a carnival balloon home! Kids love toy balloons. And they love in particular water balloons. They love throwing at each other and anything else in the way for that matter.

Check out our list of wholesale balloon suppliers also know as Bulk Balloon Manufacturers List.

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Breaking Sunglasses News:

Did you know there are now Bluetooth Sunglasses? Yes! Released by a company named Inter Brands, they have 100 minutes of standby time, talk time up to 5 hours. The receiver would combine with the sunglasses and if you don't want to wear the sunglasses then you could take it out as the decoration. The Bluetooth receiver could be used for MP3, laptop, desktop computer, cell phone and the skype.

One Hit Wonder or Mogul in Training? Soulja Boy may have rapped about getting F's in school, but since he's become a celeb, the young'un has obviously acquired knowledge in economics. He has a full blitz tied into his new album. In addition to the CD he is about to release, comes "Soulja Boy Sunglasses", his own signature shoes called Yums, as well as a cartoon titled "Bad Little Homies" about him and his friends. "Crank That" started this young man's wheels crankin!

Did you know that rapper/hip hop artist Kanye West is performing in April 2008 and May throughout the USA? Here are some of the current concert locations: Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Journal Pavilion, Denver, Colorado at the Pepsi Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the Ford Center, Austin, Texas at the Frank Irwin Center, Dallas, Texas at the Superpages.com Center [that's a weird name] and in Houston, Texas at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. We offer the white slotted glasses that he made famous in this Stronger video. We call them Kanye West Shutter Shades.

Thanks for looking for balloon flight. Don't forget to consider cheap sunglasses when looking for graduation gifts.