Flight Status

Our Sunset Flight for 5/15/22 is CANCELED

WIND CONDITIONS:

• 30% chance of showers in our area during flight period
• Forecasts show rain near Lake Geneva at forecast time
• Surface winds will be a steady 7-8 mph during our flight period.
• 500′ winds, where we do the majority of our flying, will be 15-20 mph
• 100’ winds, just above the treetops will be 12 – 18 mph

PHYSICS OF HOT AIR BALLOON LANDINGS:

• Momentum in ballooning is important:

• • Balloons when inflated with air and loaded with guests and fuel have the mass of a large truck: therefore, it takes a long time to slow one down.

• • Balloons do not have brakes … unless you count contact with the ground. 

• • IF we are flying at 30 mph at 500’ and descend into 8 mph on the surface, we will most likely be landing at 12-15 mph or more. A landing at that speed is a jolting and dramatic end to a flight that increases risk of injury to our guests, pilots and crew. If we suspect those landing speeds, we will cancel a flight.

• • Our pilots are trained to handle high wind landings if conditions change mid flight and the winds pick up. But we don’t launch balloons knowing that high wind landings are expected.

LAUNCH AND RECOVERY FIELD CONDITIONS:

• Launch and landing fields are in acceptable condition. 

You can view the raw data used for my weather forecast here: Flight Weather Briefing Data

Posted by Chief Pilot John Trione on 5/15/22 @ 11:58 am