Bruce Irving
Hot Air Balloon Flight
Stockholm, May 2014 -- by Bruce Irving
On a European business trip in May 2014, I had a free weekend in Stockholm, my first time there. A friend who knows the city suggested that I try to arrange a hot air balloon flight. As a lapsed private pilot, I love anything that flies, so I got on the Internet and found a small local company that offers these flights.
We stayed low above the rooftops, trees, and sometimes powerlines, drifting for about 10 more minutes until Karl spotted a small field lined up with our path. There was a bigger field nearby, but we weren't drifting exactly that way, so Karl had to make do with a smaller area between several clumps of trees. We brushed through the upper branches of several trees and lightly bumped the top of a street light just before reaching the small landing field. Karl had us assume the brace position (in case we landed hard or the basket tipped over), and then he quickly dumped the hot gas from the balloon. Descending quickly, we landed firmly but safely upright, 30 meters or so from the next clump of trees.
Karl was a very experienced pilot with over 4000 balloon flights, but no matter how skilled the pilot, it all depends on the weather and the wind. We got lucky with both that evening. It was a beautiful and serene experience drifting with the wind a few hundred feet above the forests, lakes, and suburbs of Stockholm.
Karl's driver showed up with the van a few minutes after we landed, but we passengers immediately got busy helping to spread out and pack up the balloon so it could be loaded back into the van, along with all of us. It was around 9:30 pm but still quite light out at this high latitude in late May. We were quickly joined by people from the neighboring houses, including children who helped by rolling along the deflated balloon envelope to flatten it for packing.
After we packed up there was a brief ceremony in which Karl poured some champagne on our heads and gave us a each a certificate welcoming us as balloon aeronauts. Then we drove back to our launch point. This was really a fantastic adventure that I will never forget. I hope to take another balloon flight some day with my wife, in Stockholm or perhaps somewhere else. I flew with Balloonflight Stockholm (www.ballong.se).
There were 11 passengers plus the pilot on this flight. The pilot also had a helper who drove the chase van to meet us wherever we would land. With such a small crew, one thing I loved was the fact that we all had to help deploy the balloon and get it ready for flight. Another passenger and I held the ropes that kept the balloon stable while it was filling with hot air. We then had to run and we were the last two to jump into the basket before take off.
Landing was so much fun, we did it twice. The first time, Karl found a very nice sports field and we came in low over suburban houses and apartments, with people shouting and waving at us. Our enormous balloon must've been quite a sight! Passing very low over a swimming pool, we landed gently in the middle of the field. A Swedish passenger got out to have a look around while Karl kept the balloon inflated. As he apparently had suspected, there was no way for the chase van to get into this field. So we had to take off again.
