|
For those who missed a story the first time round this is the "Twilight Home" for 'retired' news items where they can spend their 'later years' after their month of fame. So if you wonder where that story you wanted to re-read went look no further its here sitting on the verandah with the rest of the old stories! | |||||||||
|
Dateline Dec 2007
JOE BLITZ INDUCTED INTO ABF HALL OF FAME Long time Victorian member Joe Blitz was recently inducted into the ABF Hall of Fame. Joe first became involved in ballooning in Holland in the late 1940's. He was actively involved in the Netherlands Balloon Club which flew gas balloons in Holland and surrounding countries. On emigrating to Australia ballooning became a thing of the past for Joe, until the early 1970's when he saw a new balloon packed on a shipping pallet in storage, by chance. Making enquiries he found that there were a small number of hot air balloonists starting sport ballooning in Victoria. His passion reborn Joe tagged along until he was given a ride at Horsham airfield. That was enough to convince him to by "Ulinga". Joe has introduced and trained numerous other balloonists. Most of then still active today, such was his skill at imparting his passion to others. Joe is one of the few pilots who attended every Barossa Balloon meet and in the process has amassed a horde of friends in ballooning in every state of Australia.
| |||||||||
|
Dateline 22.10.07
AUSTRALIA DAY 2008 - PARRAMATTA PARK - SYDNEY
Steve Ireland is calling for expressions of interest from pilots to fly or tether at next year's Australia Day - Sydney Flight The event will be similar to last year with a significant amount of entertainment on the launch field to entertain the crowd once the balloons have departed. The balloon package is as follows:-
Out of pocket expenses subsidy $500 for free flying balloons and $800 for tethered balloons. If you are interested or need more information please send Steve an e-mail sji213@webone.com.au or call Steve Ireland on 0418 628962.
| |||||||||
Dateline 26.08.07
| |||||||||
|
PART 149 - RECREATIONAL
AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ORGANISATIONS Dateline 30.07.07 At long last CASA has released their 'Notice of Proposed Rule Making' NPRM0704OS which covers the self regulation of ballooning under Part 149. This should be read in conjunction with the NPRM0603OS for Part 103 which covers Sport and Recreational Aviation Operations. When these are introduced and made into law the ramifications for sport (private) ballooning in Australia are huge. It is recommended that all ABF members obtain a copy of this NPRM and read it carefully. These 2 NPRM's cover the self administration of ballooning and revisions in the regulations covering the operation of ballooning. If you would like further information or wish to discuss it further within the ABF I suggest you contact our Vice President, Danny Galbraith at Dannygalbraith1@optusnet.com.au .Danny, as our delegate to ASAC (Australian Sport Aviation Confederation), has been responsible for presenting the ABF's views to that body and through them to CASA. If you have any comment to make on the NPRM you are strongly encouraged to do so, either direct to CASA, through the ABF or both. Please feel free to discuss this with any of the ABF Executive or your Regional representativeThe NPRM for 149 may be found at < http://www.casa.gov.au/newrules/parts/149/NPRM0704OS.asp>The NPRM for Part 103 may be found at < http://rrp.casa.gov.au/ors_nprm0603os.asp>Please note that the closing date for comment on both of these NPRM's is 24th September 2007 so, please, DO IT NOW! Cheers | |||||||||
|
WE HAVE A CHAMPION! Dateline 29.07.07 Congratulations to Paul Gibbs, Sean Kavanagh and Ed Michell on their 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the 2007 Australian National Hot Air Balloon Championships. It is heartening to see that the results of the Championship confirm the ability of our top pilots. Consistency was the key. Danny Galbraith once calculated that you had to average 8th place to win a World Championship. Well if you do the same exercise we have done, you will find Paul Gibbs averaged 6th to win the 2007 Australian Nationals. I would say that this is an indication of the rising level of competition flying skills in this country.
It is also pleasing to see the depth of competition talent displayed at the Nationals, with previous Champions such as Phil Kavanagh (1990) and Tim Steiner (2000) placing well in the field. It was also good to see so many Commercial Pilots taking a busman's holiday and competing so well - proof that skill is all the better for regular practice. Even your humble Editor managed a couple of seconds - pity about a few other low scores! Like others, I will be back next time, planning to learn from my mistakes and capitalising on the training and preparation that gave me a 'non-fault' result on the rules, if not in the flying. This victory makes Paul Gibbs our first triple National Champion (1996, 1998 & 2007). Congratulations to Paul and all the other participating pilots, be they old hands or new to competition, for a safe Championship. I think they will all agree, no matter where they finished, competition flying is a great learning exercise for polishing flying and flight planning skills, not to mention reading skills! Particular thanks and congratulations must go to the small organising committee, ABF Officers and Director Les Purfield from the U.K. - not only for "getting the job done" so well, but for organising a friendly, well run competition and for bringing many new faces into ballooning, with the young Venturer Scouts and Benalla locals who acted as Observers under the instruction of Bill Brown and Scobie Peart. It was also great to see familiar faces amongst the Observers from previous Nationals passing on their skills. We appreciated the Benalla locals and farmers who welcomed us with wonderful hospitality and all in all, it's a great place to fly, with beautiful scenery and good flying conditions. Les Springett - Website Editor www.ballooningnationals.com.au
| |||||||||
|
PASSING OF THE
'FATHER' OF MODERN HOT AIR BALLOONING Dear Friends, I have the sad duty to announce that Ed Yost, the father of modern hot air ballooning, died last Sunday at his home in Taos, New Mexico, aged 87. Ed was a living monument and he was the first living inductee into the FAI Ballooning Commission Hall of Fame in 1995. (http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=37531) He will continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make in ballooning, and we will remember Ed with eternal gratitude. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to Ed's family and his friends. Ed Yost is survived by his two sons Greg and Dale Yost, and his granddaughter Nicole. No memorial service is planned and Ed's family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa. JC Weber, President FAI Ballooning Commission
| |||||||||
|
8th
World Hot Air Airship Championship- Russia 2008 Dateline 11.05.07 A unique opportunity exists for any members who would like to fly a balloon in Russia. The organisers of the 8th World Hot Air Airship Championships will also run a pre-Worlds event in 2007 (21 - 28 June 2007). There will be an hot air balloon event associated with both the pre-Worlds and the Worlds. Alexander has asked me to provide contact details for any Australians interested in attending these events but I feel that it would be more appropriate to send out a group e-mail to the ABF membership with Alexanders contact details so that anyone that might be interested can contact him directly. The events will be held in the St Petersburg region in particular Tsarskoye Selo is a former residence of the Russian imperial family and part of the town of Pushkin. There are some spectacular launch sites including the palace grounds. Please contact:- Alexander Efimov - PR-manager MegaFon World Cup 2007 <http://www.world-airship2008.ru>
| |||||||||
 "SKY ORCHESTRA" OPENS FESTIVAL OF SYDNEY Dateline 07.01.07 In a spectacular start to the New Year, balloonists from around Australia became an airborne orchestra to open the 2007 Festival of Sydney at Parramatta Park yesterday. Their performance was well received by an appreciative public as the pre-recorded synchronized electronic sound artwork drifted gently down from the cluster of balloons as they drifted slowly south from Parramatta park to landings in South Granville. Seven of the balloons carried speakers with each balloon playing a different element of a special musical score, an experimental artwork by sound artist Luke Jerram and composer Dan Jones, which merges performance and music to create an audio visual installation both in the air and within the mind. Balloons from Canberra, Victoria and Western Australia joined 4 local balloons in the precision flying required to keep the orchestra together and provide an essential component of the performance. Richard Gillespie and the Balloon Aloft Camden passenger balloon provided local knowledge and media rides on the first morning and the flight received excellent coverage on all local television stations. Everyone who participated enjoyed the morning. Steve and Di Ireland are again to be congratulated on their excellent organisation. "A gorgeous sight on the
second day as eight balloons (and music) kissed their way slowly east along
Parramatta Park with the crowd following on foot like the pied piper!"
reports Sue Browne. The story continues..... You might be interested in what we have been doing over the past week. Take a look at :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xer3kI_WFY "Sky Orchestra" was the opening event in the Sydney Festival. We flew
five days out of a possible six - playing music from seven hot air balloons
flying low over the Sydney suburbs. (Really low). Best Wishes. Martin Moroney
Here's a fab slideshow of images... News is Sky Orchestra has
been invited to the Brisbane river festival to perform and to Korea. Its
down to everyone's hard work that these opportunities have come about. AMERICANS
1,2 & 4 | |||||||||
|
FINAL POSITIONS OF AUSTRALIANS AFTER 28 TASKS
2006 World Championships WEBSITE FOR DETAILS SEE SEAN'S WEBSITE & ANDREW ROBERTSON'S FINAL OFFICIAL STANDINGS - RESULTS For even more pictures of the World's please see Adam Barrows' Blog site as well! http://flickr.com/photos/wolfieb/299201030/
| |||||||||
|
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
ANNOUNCED Dateline 8.11.06 The long awaited news of where and when the 2007 Australian National Championship will be held has just been announced by ABF National Administrator Dale Allen. 7-15 July 2007 BENALLA,
VICTORIA
| |||||||||
|
A NEW Australian ballooning RECORD
Kiff Saunders altitude record has been ratification by the Australian Ballooning Federation. Detailed story to follow when available.
Congratulations to Christopher (Kiff)
Saunders and co-pilot Paul Gibbs on their daring and successful attempt.
| |||||||||
|
SAD NEWS FROM
JAPAN - WORLD BALLOONING HAS LOST ONE OF ITS GREATEST ADVOCATES I
have the very sad duty to inform you that our dear friend Masashi Kakuda passed
away this afternoon. Masashi had suffered a severe myocardial incident on
Monday and has been in intensive care at This
terrible loss, at a time when Masashi put all his energy and competence at our
service to organize a successful World Championship in his home country, leaves
us all shattered and inconsolable. For many years Masashi has been a personal
friend and a friend of the CIA and the global ballooning community, and he
earned the world's respect for his active involvement in ballooning. Throughout
the years, he was a most respected voice of reason and moderation that helped
the CIA to stay on track. On behalf of the all the world’s balloonists, I
extend our heartfelt condolences to Masashi’s family and to his many friends.
I wish you hope
in the midst of sorrow, comfort in the midst of pain. Now
that Masashi has been “promoted” to eternal bliss, he will continue to
bloom in our hearts and I will find comfort and strength in my memories where
he will never fade away. The World Championship will go on and happen as
Masashi planned, and I am convinced that we have his full support and blessing.
This will be Masashi’s World Championship. With
heartfelt sympathy,
| |||||||||
|
| |||||||||
|
THE PIBAL LIGHT BUYING
SYNDICATE GOES INTERNATIONAL WITH A SOUTH AFRICAN MEMBER Dateline 10.05.06 Pibal lights supplied through our buying syndicate are to be used at the South African National Championships. 100 LED lamps are on their way to South Africa as I write and enquires have also been received from New Zealand. As a result another bulk order may be placed shortly. | |||||||||
| AUSTRALIA DAY 26th JANUARY
2006 Dateline 15.02.06
Congratulations to Steve Ireland
and the 14 Balloons which participated in the very successful Australia Day celebration dawn flight
from Parramatta Park, Sydney. Thanks to the event sponsors and organisers - Parramatta City Council, the Australia Day Committee, gas supplier Elgas and the hotels which provided accommodation to balloon crews. For more details of this event see the next edition of Aeronotes, the official newsletter of the Australian Ballooning Federation. LTS- Editor. | |||||||||
| 2005 | |||||||||
|
AUSTRALIANS WELL PLACED IN
MOTEGI PRE-WORLDS The pace was gruelling with 32 tasks flown on 9 flights in 41/2 days of competition. Steve Ireland reports some flights were quintuple and sextuple tasks! Amongst the 44 competitors were several former World Champions and top competition pilots from the USA, UK, Europe and Japan. Current World Champion Markus Pieper finished 13th. The placegetters were: - Its not just Australian pilots who are prominent at the Honda Grand Prix. Also in attendance, officiating, were Steve Ireland, Gary Lacy and Bill Dolence. For detailed results please go to the Motegi website. http://www.wgpx-motegi.com/
| |||||||||
|
Good up to date weather information is all important for safe ballooning and one of the neatest and easiest websites to get current wind information in your region compiled virtually live is WeatherZone. Click on Current information and see the latest data from all the airport automated weather stations. You can sort these by region for further ease of reading. www.weatherzone.com.au Not to say that the Bureau of Meteorology
Website www.bom.gov.au is
not loaded with goodies too! Finally if you forget your password just remember
you can get into the aviation forecasts via the AOPA Australia website http://www.aopa.com.au/infocentre/weather.cfm | |||||||||
|
NEW AIRSPACE
PROCEDURES
ABF Operations Team - Dateline 24.11.05
All ABF pilots and student pilots are reminded
that from today (Thursday 24 November) new airspace and radio procedures
apply within 10NM of any aerodrome. You should be aware of and follow the
information outlined in the package 'Operations at Non-Towered Aerodromes' you
received from DOTARS, and the notes on this package in the ABF Pilots
Circular issue 9 which was included with the latest Aeronotes. (Now also
available on this website, see the DOCUMENTS
page. Ed.)
The main changes are - MBZ's cease to exist,
CTAF procedures apply at all non-towered aerodromes, CTAF no longer has fixed
boundaries but slightly different radio procedures apply within 10NM (18.5 km)
of any non-towered aerodrome. Radio frequencies generally will not change.
Please read the documents carefully, and be sure you understand them.
From 24 November you should not fly until you:
- have a current air navigation chart for
your intended flying area and locate any aerodromes on it.
- know and follow the new procedures when within
10NM of an aerodrome.
- in particular, carry and use VHF air-band
radio where required (you must have a CASA radio licence or an ABF radio
operator certificate to use it)
Use the new procedures from day 1, but also be alert for other aircraft which may NOT remember to use them.
Also, be aware that aircraft making straight-in
approaches to land at an aerodrome are now supposed to advise this on radio
using the words 'JOIN FINAL' instead of 'MAKE STRAIGHT IN APPROACH'. Faster
aircraft may make their first radio call from as much as 30NM away as they
approach.
If you have any questions please email me on sfisher@picknowl.com.au
or phone 0415 454 004 anytime.
Safe flying!
Simon Fisher - ABF Training Officer
| |||||||||
|
LES SPRINGETT WINS 2005
AUSTRALIAN LONG JUMP Dateline November 19, 2005 Winner of the 2005 Australian Long Jump Les Springett made a flight of 69km in slow conditions on the last Saturday in August. Congratulations also to Ian Brownlie of Victoria for his second place for a flight of 26km on the same morning. This year's other entrant Chris Shorten was planning to fly the same morning but was exhausted after a commercial flight and did not fly but is looking forward to next year's Jump. There was great interest from pilots around the country and many wanted more notice and a longer time span to make an attempt. Awards were presented at the Montgolfier Dinners in New South Wales and Victoria. The event created great camaraderie amongst pilots and we expect many more entries next year.
| |||||||||
|
GARY PASK - AWARDED THE GEDGE
TROPHY Dateline September 2005 Long serving ABF President Gary Pask has been awarded the Gedge Trophy for his contribution to Australian Ballooning.
| |||||||||
|
CAMERON
BALLOONING MILDURA IS NOW MILDURA BALLOONING Dateline
Saturday,
September 03, 2005 1:26 PM
| |||||||||
|
Chile
Balloon Tour 26 JAN 2006 Dateline Saturday, September 03, 2005 1:26 PM Dear Pilots, Herewith attaching our invitation letter to participate in our Chile Balloon Tour 2006, 3rd version. Please, don't hesitate to contact me for any additional requirements. Best regards and soft landings.
| |||||||||
|
Dateline 15.03.05 MAJOR UPGRADE TO WEBSITE DOCUMENT ACCESS At the suggestion of ABF Administrator Dale Allen, I have created a new link page called DOCUMENTS which you will find on the Contents side bar. This contains all documents stored on the ABF website - an easy to access area for members and the general public. In addition, Dale and I have formulated a plan to further increase access to key documents, such as the new Airworthiness Directives (Balloons) AD-BALs, which will progressively be added to the DOCUMENTS access page. For those of you who may not be aware, the website already carries printable copies of the New Member Application Form, Membership Renewal, Student Certificate and Private Pilot Application Forms, the ABF Constitution and all Pilot Circulars. So if you need any of these documents, try the website! Les Springett - Web Site Editor.
| |||||||||
|
Dateline11.02.05 Borken August 2004. | |||||||||
|
Dateline: 17 January 2005 6:49:32 PM 21st India International Hot Air Balloon Mela & Rajasthan Safari 2005 Dear Balloonist, We have great pleasure in extending this invitation to the Hot-Air Balloon Mela & Rajasthan Safari 2005, scheduled from 11th November to 26th November 2005. This will be the twenty first year, we have organized Balloon Melas and Safaris which were highly successful. We believe you will enjoy our beautiful, hospitable and friendly vast country, as well as the exciting ballooning events please see the attached programme Kindly fill the attached entry forms and send to us at the earliest. Should you require more information, please contact us. With best regards, VISHWA BANDHU GUPTA Honorary Secretary | |||||||||
|
FIRST FLIGHT FOR NEW KAVANAGH G-450 Kavanagh balloons largest yet the G-450 made its maiden test flight at Canowindra last month. Photos of the new G-450 from its maiden flight in Cairns courtesy of Andrew Steele of Hot Air in Cairns. | |||||||||
|
On a slightly smaller scale individual
balloonists are achieving their personal goals, some like Adam Barrow are
building and flying their own balloons. Editor.
ADAM BARROW MAKES SOLO RETRIEVE FLIGHT I finally realised one of my dreams on the weekend when I made a balloon flight completely on my own. I have always wanted to be able to inflate fly and retrieve a balloon on my own so it makes it possible to go flying whenever and wherever you want without the need to organise a tribe of crew to help out.
On Sunday I
strapped on the trusty pushy to the rubbish bin and off we went. There
was no-one else around, no crew, no other balloons, no spectators. Just
me, the bike and the balloon, quite surreal in a lot of ways.
Have attached
some pics that I will also get up on the website at some stage. Cheers
Adam Barrow.
Adam's website is now at http://www.balloonsvictoria.com/balloonbuilding | |||||||||
| 2004 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Friday, 5 March 2004 7:29 AM 2004 World HONDA Grand Prix We are very honoured to announce the 2004 World HONDA Grand Prix, which is series events with Monroe in USA as the 1st round in the middle of June, Mobilux Trophy in Luxembourg as the 2nd round in the end of July, and Motegi in Japan as the 3rd round in the middle of November. If you have an interest to participate, please send me your inquiry. I will send you more information and a registration form. Soft Landings, Masashi Kakuda mkd@cb4.so-net.ne.jp
| |||||||||
|
PROJECT YETI 2004 - NEW
WORLD & AUSTRALIAN RECORDS TO STEVE GRIFFIN 12 Feb 2004
The
weather finally came good and we have an AX-2 Duration World Record and
AX2-4 Australian Duration Records in the bag.
The following
have been ratified by the ABF and are now with ASAC.
AX-1
Distance 5.0km 5th Feb 04
VH-IBA Griffin Itty Bitty -1
AX2-6
Duration 4 hrs 39 min 50 sec 11th Feb 04 VH-SIK Griffin Mylar Magic
AX2-3
Distance 47.237 km 5th Feb 04 VH-ESN
Griffin Eyestrain -2
AX2-5
Altitude 3235 m (10,614 feet) 5th Feb 04 VH-ESN Griffin Eyestrain -
2
There are some photos on the website www.flymetothemoon.com.au/yeti
There will be
more on the Fly Me to the Moon / Project Yeti web once we stop
celebrating.
Steve Griffin
Congratulations Steve! (Editor)
| |||||||||
|
Approaching
deadline for entry 10th FAI Gas balloon World Championship Please keep in mind, that the deadline for entries is next Tuesday, March 9th. In the meantime I have as entries: 2 Teams Belgium 2 Teams UK 1 Team USA (another officially announced) 1 Team Italy 1 Team Germany Where is Austria, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Poland? With kind regards / mit freundlichen Grüßen Thomas Fink Event Director - 10th FAI Gas Balloon World Championship Lange Zeile 3a 90419 Nürnberg GERMANY phone. +49-911-39901-91 fax +49-911-3990192 mobile +49-175-5441544 <mailto:t.fink@dfsv.de> www.gasworlds.info | |||||||||
|
PROJECT YETI 2003
Dateline 29.01.04 The following was received from Steve Griffin Records from last year's Project Yeti expedition are:
AX-1 Duration
18 minutes
AX-1 Distance
.538 km
AX2&3
Duration 2 hours 18 minutes
AX2&3
Distance 9.976 km
AX2&3
Altitude 1518 metres
Steve hopes
to give all of these a nudge over the next little bit. Steve
has also been awarded the FAI/CIA Gold Sporting badge with 3 diamonds - one
of only 6 in the world.
Grahame
Bateman and Steve Griffin are off to Canada on Friday 30th January for 3 1/2
weeks. Steve has a project website up and running again www.flymetothemoon.com.au/yeti
. If you are interested there is an e-mail list running which will give you
daily updates of our progress in Canada. You can sign up on the Contacts
page. Steve also has a homebuilding website which has a bit more info
on the balloons at www.flymetothemoon.com.au/homebuilding
| |||||||||
2003 | |||||||||
SAGA - JAPAN Wednesday
19 Nov 2003  Sean Kavanagh, who competed in the recent Pacific Cup in Saga Japan. Reports that the Pacific Cup was won by Owen Keown (USA) for his 8th time. Adam Barrow also flew in Saga. Sean Kavanagh and Paul Gibbs are in Motegi (Japan), this week. Motegi will be the Final round of both the Japan and World Grand Prix events and Sean is hoping to do well in Motegi. Sean has promised to write an article for Aeronotes on Saga with a follow up story on Motegi. Editor. | |||||||||
| CANBERRA FESTIVAL MOVED FORWARD ONE
WEEK Monday 10th November The Canberra Balloon Fiesta will be held from the 6 - 15 March 2004 (not 15-21 March). It will again be a ten day event with the last day ending on Canberra Day Monday 15th March. The Canberra Balloon Fiesta will be the signature event of Canberra's Autumn Festivals and with a strong support from Australian Capital Tourism we hope that this years fiesta will help attract more interstate visitors and a naming right sponsor in the future. Information entry forms etc will be in the mail this week. Jacky Jansse | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
GPS - IS IT THE WAY OF THE FUTURE?
After the successful application of GPS Data Loggers at the last World Championship and the recent National Championship there has been a good deal of interest in the application of GPS to balloon competitions in Australia. The Balloon Club of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory has conducted a trial event exploiting the potential of GPS scoring to set interesting and unusual objectives. In this case the target was a point high above an otherwise inaccessible mountain top. How long will it be before we see GPS used in serious National and International
Competition? It is only a matter of time many believe and Australians are helping to lead
the way with prominent Australian competition officials co-operating with their overseas
counterparts to produce a fully functional GPS based competition scoring system.
LTS | |||||||||
VICTORY TO SEAN KAVANAGH IN NATIONALS LTS | |||||||||
|
| |||||||||
| BALLOON WEBSITE OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER
2003 The Croatian Balloon Club - Balloon Flight Simulator!!!!!!! Definitely the most addictive site on the web this beautiful little on-line balloon competition lets you test your skills against pilots from around the world. http://www.baloni.hr/simulator
| |||||||||
SO
CLOSE BUT SO FAR
