Naturally the fully qualified pilot of the hot air balloon taking you on your magical balloon flight is absolutely essential to make your flight enjoyable and possible. But there is also a group of unsung heroes who don’t often get a mention, the balloon crew or chase crew.

These are the guys that get the balloon ready to get into the air in the first place including setting up the balloon, checking that the basket has all the essential the pilot needs, then arranging to get the canopy in place, inflating this with air so the pilot can direct the burner to fill this with hot air to enable you to float away. After all that is done and you are on your way, we “chase” the balloon so that we can help dismantle this after you have safely landed and take you back to meet your friends at the launch site.

If you have been to a festival or have watched hot air balloons being prepared, the question that is often asked is “who are all those people round the hot air balloon?” Well it’s called the ground crew or more commonly the chase crew and is usually between 3 to 6 people.

If you are interested in becoming part of a crew, or are fascinated by hot air balloons why not get yourself started. The way that most people start is through buying a hot air balloon ride and at Balloons over Britain it is possible to buy a voucher online and take a hot air balloon ride from a launch site that is close to you. During your ride you can not only enjoy the serenity of the flight, view the countryside from an entirely different aspect, but talk to the pilot about either joining his crew, or perhaps a crew that may be looking for some able and willing volunteers. The only special skill needed for the balloon ground crew is a willingness to learn and ask questions. Some tasks require a fair amount of physical strength, but don’t worry, there are even more tasks that do not. Become involved and enjoy a new exciting sport.

If you are one of those who find hot air balloons fascinating, almost certainly you have longed to go for a hot air balloon ride and deep down being a pilot of one of them. It is not difficult to get involved in hot air ballooning, just following a balloon to where it lands and talking to the pilot, the passengers and the chase crew.

Booking a hot air balloon ride is the easiest way for you to become involved and learning about the sport. You can help with the inflation and deflation of the balloon, most passengers enjoy this part of the hot air ballooning experience. Finding a company that offers hot air balloon rides close to you is not difficult, Balloons over Britain has hot air balloon rides from more than 70 launch sites throughout the UK, one of the launch sites will be close to you. Although the flight itself usually last for about and hour, the whole experience will be around 3 to 4 hours, normally at dawn or dusk when the wind is at its calmest.

The first thing to gear yourself up for is an early start which depending upon the time of year will be at around sunrise, so in the summer this could be very early! The reason for this early time is because these are the very best conditions for you to fly in your hot air balloon.

You can expect to help with the inflation of the hot air balloon; it’s all part of the fun. Your pilot will be a qualified professional and they all have a sense of fun and good humour, you are there to enjoy yourself. You will receive enthusiastic support from the ground crew who will ‘chase’ the balloon and help in the procedure followed on landing as well as take you back to your local launch site. So make the most of it and enjoy your glass of champagne!

It used to be the boy who stood on the station platform and watched the big steam trains who said “one day I want to be an engine driver”, more likely now he would be saying that he wanted to be a pilot.

Piloting a Hot Air Balloon requires lots of training by qualified instructors, all of whom are of course qualified CAA registered Hot Air Balloon Pilots. The route that most people take to begin with is to become part of the crew which is vital in any Hot Air Balloon ride operation. Since balloons drift with the wind, their pilots can’t simply turn around and fly home when they’re ready. A two or three-person crew helps the pilot rig the equipment, holds open the envelope while it fills with cold air, and applies weight to the outside of the basket as needed before launch. Then they follow the balloon on the ground, and after the landing help the pilot pack everything up and bring it home again.

Why not get the “feel” of it by taking a Hot Air Balloon Ride from one of the many local locations that we can offer through our national voucher scheme. You never know, you could be flying one of our balloons one day!

It takes two or three people to help the pilot of the Hot Air Balloon rig the equipment, hold open the envelope while it fills with cold air, and then apply weight to the outside of the basket as needed before launch. Once the Balloon Ride is under way, the ground, or launch crew then follow the Hot Air Balloon on the ground to the place the pilot has chosen to land. After the landing they help the pilot pack everything up and bring it home again, without these wonderful volunteers Hot Air Balloon Rides just would not happen.

It is great fun but it can be hard but often rewarding work as many professional Balloon Ride operators in the UK pay the crew, others offer free rides or even lessons. Crewing is a great way to learn about the sport following which maybe you could start formal training and become a pilot yourself.