It has been a few years since I last learned to fly a completely new category of aircraft but since my last post, I have started doing just that. I have started on a new training adventure from the ground up. Literally!

The new category of aircraft is "Lighter Than Air." The class of aircraft is "Balloon" but more specifically, in FAA speak, a "Balloon with an Airborne Heater." More commonly this type of aircraft is known as a hot air balloon.

Ground Crew Training

As I said, this training is from the ground up. As such, much of my initial training has been as a ground crew member for the balloon. While first learning to be a ground crew member is not required, this tends to be a common route.

As a part of the ground crew, you learn a lot about the balloon and its basic operations. You learn about and can get involved with the preflight of the balloon and its systems. You become educated on the weather that is crucial to safe balloon operations. Reviewing the wind and weather with the balloon pilot will also allow you to have a more successful chase for a particular balloon flight.

Wind is a critical factor for a safe balloon inflation and launch. If the wind is too high or the conditions are gusty, the balloon can become difficult or impossible to control on the ground. Cancellations do occur in the interest of safety.

Inflation starts by using a fan to pack the balloon envelope full of air. This is known as the cold inflation. Once the balloon is full of cold air, the burner is fired to heat the air; decreasing its density and making it lighter.

As a ground crew member, you will learn to control the crown of the balloon during cold inflation and as the pilot adds heat. You may be asked to help the pilot in securing the parachute vent at the top of the balloon during the cold inflation process.

On other inflations you may be asked to hold the skirt at the opening of the balloon while the fan fills it with air.

While flying a balloon, you control your route of flight by climbing higher or descending lower and taking advantage of the wind speed and direction at various altitudes. This gives you some control over the path that you fly but it is limited to the wind conditions that exist on that day. Knowing what the pilot's flight path options may be allows you to get ahead of the balloon during the chase.

When it is time for the balloon to land, you may be asked to talk to the land owner and get permission for the balloon to land or to initiate balloon recovery. Keeping land owners happy is a very important part of ballooning.

After landing, you will work with the pilot to deflate the balloon and pack it up. Depending on the landing location and the weather conditions, this can be a fairly simple task or it can be a difficult process.

While it can be a lot of work, you do learn a lot as a ground crew member. If you ever get a chance to give it a try, I highly recommend it.

In a future post, I will talk about the flight portion of the training. See you then!

For More Information

Balloon Federation of America - http://www.bfa.net/