Pilots’ from time to time have been accused of believing they are the most impotant people on an aircraft, whether it’s a commercial airliner or a simple hot air balloon, the reality is that no matter what the pilot thinks, without the ground crew, no aircraft would ever take to the skies!
When one of our ground crew asked if I could fly his daughter Rachel and her boyfriend as a present for his 21st birthday it was my absolute pleasure to say yes. Unfortunately, low cloud scuppered any chance of being able to fly them on his actual birthday, however, only two days later and in near perfect conditions, we were able to take to the sky over South Oxfordshire for arguably, one of the best flights I’ve ever had.
Launching just after dawn from The Dog House at Frilford Heath, we flew for just over one hour, heading south over the beautiful open Oxfordshire countryside passing the villages of Marcham, Garford and East & West Hannay before coming on to land at the old airfield at Grove. We landed in almost calm condition on a small piece of scrub land between a young crop field and an old airfield service road and with such light winds, were able to simply walk the balloon onto the service road to allow for safe deflation.
Rachel Kennedy
Photographs © Dave & Rachel Kennedy 2012
