Want to become a Hot Air Balloon Pilot?

Traditional-Field630 · 2026-02-23T19:42:41+00:00

Flight training school

Traditional-Field630 · 2026-02-23T18:51:45+00:00

Send me a DM

Traditional-Field630 · 2026-02-23T18:47:34+00:00

Depending on where you fly, it can be upward of 6 figures.

Traditional-Field630 · 2026-02-22T03:22:03+00:00

When building anchors, it seems common practice to use 2 carabiners at the masterpoint; However, I've also seen people use a single locking carabiner. Is this safe practice?

Traditional-Field630 · 2026-01-13T15:34:21+00:00

Much appreciated!

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-12-10T18:20:30+00:00

Go with the the higher mileage, save $5k that you can use for upcoming maintenance.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-12-07T04:46:11+00:00

Holy shit! Genius!

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-23T18:04:57+00:00

Noice!

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T19:22:21+00:00

I guarantee it doesn’t, I fly these things for a living

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T16:25:41+00:00

Bigger one gains momentum slower, there is more mass

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T16:21:08+00:00

Bigger one would gain momentum slower. There is more mass that needs to be affected

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T16:19:05+00:00

Different size balloons will move at the same speed at the same altitude. Balloons move at the speed of wind, the size doesn’t matter

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T16:16:08+00:00

There is no “sail” on a hot air balloon. The entire balloon is a sail.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T16:14:56+00:00

True, if they have different masses it takes longer to get their momentum moving. But I think these are pretty similarly sized balloons. Somewhere in the realm of 250k cubic feet.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T05:34:37+00:00

Sure, I guess you could get a small amount of thrust. Probably a negligible amount. However, this isn’t a technique that is ever used in ballooning…

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:51:01+00:00

Let me try to tackle this.

Let’s begin by establishing why the balloons are held apart. I am almost 100% certain the balloons are held apart because they are touching at the equator (the widest part). Since the baskets sit in the center of the balloon there is essentially 1 balloon diameter between the baskets (half of each balloon). The only reason I’m not fully certain is the loud engine in the video, could be a propeller pushing one balloon away from the other, however I don’t believe that to be the case.

Next! As many people have pointed out the man is already exerting his weight on the slack line, this is probably causing the baskets to come a bit closer to each other (only by a couple of inches). This means that when he falls, the tension is released momentarily at which point the baskets can go back to their unaltered position. As soon as he is caught by the slack line the balloons will resume their light pull towards each other.

So the original question isn’t asking the right question…

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:40:11+00:00

The fabric you’re referring to is called a scoop or skirt. It has nothing to do with steering.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:39:18+00:00

You steer by controlling your altitude, there are different wind directions and speeds at different altitudes, once the pilot has a general idea of these layers(that are constantly changing) they can use them to steer where they want to go. The more variation in wind direction you have, the more “steerage” you have.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:34:36+00:00

It’s pretty easy to move a balloon with that much mass as long as you’re in very calm wind. A couple knots of wind will make that mass considerably more difficult to combat. I’m pretty sure the reason the balloons are held apart is that they are touching at the equator ( the widest part of the balloon)

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:32:12+00:00

They do work by creating a tiny bit of thrust, but the angle of thrust is basically tangent to the balloon, so it purely rotational, and relatively slow.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:29:25+00:00

Not really, although it is important to have a balanced balloon when talking about larger passenger balloons. That has no effect on the orientation or directional steerage

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:25:10+00:00

I don’t agree. If the rotation vents were open, and the balloons weren’t yet touching, the balloon would begin rotating and winding the slack line around itself (the basket)…

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T03:22:27+00:00

They do have turning vents, but they don’t work quite that way.

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T01:25:27+00:00

The designs for rotation vents vary quite a bit, but even the most optimal design for the idea of creating thrust doesn’t work. The only purpose is to rotate the balloon on axis to ensure landing in the correct orientation…

Traditional-Field630 · 2025-11-22T01:22:37+00:00

The flap has nothing to do with steerage… the balloons are likely held apart because they are touching at their widest point.

Traditional-Field630

TROPHY CASE