A Typical Corporate Morning or Evening Scenario
Arrive Brook Farm
Arrival time 1 to 1 1/2 hours before take off time, coffee available
on arrival. We fly at the beginning and end of the day when the air
is stable, thermal activity caused by the sun heating the ground causes
instability during the day. Times are typically 6.00am and 6.30pm.
Flight Briefing
A briefing will be given covering the days meteorological report,
expected flight path, approaching the balloons and expected time of
arrival back at Brook Farm (a separate briefing will be given by the
pilots prior to take off advising safe conduct during the flight).
Inflation
Guests will be invited to assist with inflating the balloons, this
usually takes about 30 mins.
The Flight
We normally plan to fly the first half hour or so at high altitude
up to 5,000ft. For a panoramic view of the countryside. On certain
days we are able to see as far as the Isle of Man, to the West, and
the Yorkshire Dales, to the East, as well as the Welsh mountains South
and The Lake District and Forest of Bowland to the North. The second
half of the flight we then track at lower levels so as to relate to
wild life and scenic countryside.
The Retrieve
After landing the retrieve crew, who will have been following the
balloon, will help to pack away the balloon and then return us all
back to Brook Farm, where champagne will be served to celebrate the
flight and certificates presented to remember it by. The champagne
incidentally, is part of the tradition of ballooning, the historical
story is that the Montgolfiere brothers, the first balloonists, used
to give the peasants champagne when they landed to show that the balloon
was of human origin and not piloted by devils or extra terrestrial
beings.
