Unstable 8
Getting in touch with balloon pilots that have dropped jumpers
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there was one there, but maybe someone was just storing it. or it was just the world's biggest wicker basket. or i imagined i saw one behind the biplane and the helicopter. it's been known to happen. 
good luck with your search, it's an awesome feeling. total silence, no wind, exiting into dead air, actually feeling a 0-120 acceleration instead of 90-120.
"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001
I've had a few people PM me and making some good progress on making this happen and hope to make it a regular occourance for people around my region.
Thanks for to everyone that gave some great information and contacts 
SO this one time at band camp.....
"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."
"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."
lippy 773
I don't think there's anything written in stone, but the biggest thing is proving canopy skills. You're probably not going to be exiting over an airport which means there'll be new obstacles, less rescources to determine wind directions...QuoteWell had a question. Are you REQUIRED a minimum number of jumps to do balloon jumps?
and also, from the pilot I have spoken to who has dropped jumpers from his balloon, said that they are capable of 6k to 7k feet
I think exit altitude is generally around 5K. When the jumpers leave, the balloon will want to shoot up, so the pilot doesn't want to be at his ceiling already. I do know of one time where the pilot (I think it was Burner but not 100% sure) went higher for a tandem.
I got nuthin
blackout 0
I believe there is a place called dancing on air or dancing in the sky or something. that is the balloon pilot that I spoke too unfortunately dont remember exactly what his company was called.
There is also of course the balloon festival at solberg airport in NJ every august...
There is also of course the balloon festival at solberg airport in NJ every august...
Your exit altitude will vary from pilot to pilot as well as the weather conditions. The colder the day, the faster/higher you will get. Some pilots are not comfortable with going that high, especially depending on the exit weights and order.
I was flying my 90,000 cubic foot balloon and had one jumper + vidiot jump. On that morning it took me about ten, maybe fifteen minutes to get 7000+ feet of altitude. When the two left the balloon, the loss of their weight caused me to shoot up to 10,000+ feet, and i didn't burn for about 10 minutes to let the balloon settle down. If you have a larger commercial balloon, one that might have a "cattle car" basket (8 ish people) and a 210,000 cubic foot envelope, you can take more people up, get higher altitude, have many exit at once, etc. Whereas a 60,000 cubic foot balloon might have a hard time getting to 3500' with two jumpers, and most likely will not allow for both to exit at the same time.
Many jumpers tend to overlook the danger involved for the balloon pilots as well. If the balloon shoots up too quick after an exit, it can cause the vent (parachute) in the top of the balloon to suck down and create a rotor effect inside the balloon that will keep the vent open. Vent open = venting the hot air, no hot air= coming down, quickly (= death). This is why prior to exit the balloon is leveled out, or for 1+ jumpers will be put into a descent. Look at some balloon jump videos and watch the distortion of the balloon as the jumpers exit...
Anyway, on an average jump I would say a reasonable altitude to expect is around 5k. Inexperienced balloon pilots TEND TO (in my experience) not want to give as much altitude, for their sake. I have gotten out as low as slight below 3000', and as high as 9000+.
From a pilot's perspective, I would say the most important thing to do on a balloon jump is be respectful! Don't demand more altitude, don't insist that you leave with a camera guy. Also, help set up the balloon and put it away if you can. The pilot will receive the hospitality very positively and will be more likely to return and do it again!
I was flying my 90,000 cubic foot balloon and had one jumper + vidiot jump. On that morning it took me about ten, maybe fifteen minutes to get 7000+ feet of altitude. When the two left the balloon, the loss of their weight caused me to shoot up to 10,000+ feet, and i didn't burn for about 10 minutes to let the balloon settle down. If you have a larger commercial balloon, one that might have a "cattle car" basket (8 ish people) and a 210,000 cubic foot envelope, you can take more people up, get higher altitude, have many exit at once, etc. Whereas a 60,000 cubic foot balloon might have a hard time getting to 3500' with two jumpers, and most likely will not allow for both to exit at the same time.
Many jumpers tend to overlook the danger involved for the balloon pilots as well. If the balloon shoots up too quick after an exit, it can cause the vent (parachute) in the top of the balloon to suck down and create a rotor effect inside the balloon that will keep the vent open. Vent open = venting the hot air, no hot air= coming down, quickly (= death). This is why prior to exit the balloon is leveled out, or for 1+ jumpers will be put into a descent. Look at some balloon jump videos and watch the distortion of the balloon as the jumpers exit...
Anyway, on an average jump I would say a reasonable altitude to expect is around 5k. Inexperienced balloon pilots TEND TO (in my experience) not want to give as much altitude, for their sake. I have gotten out as low as slight below 3000', and as high as 9000+.
From a pilot's perspective, I would say the most important thing to do on a balloon jump is be respectful! Don't demand more altitude, don't insist that you leave with a camera guy. Also, help set up the balloon and put it away if you can. The pilot will receive the hospitality very positively and will be more likely to return and do it again!
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye
QuoteI've thought that getting out of a balloon would be great fun... unfortunately I didn't figure there was any chance of a balloon outfit here letting me bail out... On normal sightseeing flights I don't suppose they usually go that high anyway?
In Eloy, I'm pretty sure that it was just A licence or better. That said, you need to take responsibility for your own safety. If you're not nailing your landings consistently, then balloon jumps are perhaps not for you just yet. You'll most likely be landing off dropzone. Depending on how good you are at determining the wind direction, you could possibly end up landing cross-wind or downwind. The winds will be very light (otherwise the balloon won't have gone up), but even a couple miles per hour of tailwind will seem like a very fast landing if you're not good at your landings.
I'm also curious as to what restrictions might apply in more populated areas. I remember some debate a little while ago on here about some guy with a friend and a plane who wanted to know about doing sly jumps in the middle of Buttfuck-Nowhere, SK or somewhere similar and there ensued some discussion about whether or not this would require an EJR and all the other exhibition jump funsies like insurance and such.
At the very least, Eloy is surrounded by wide-open patches of desert. When we selected a landing area, we generally picked the patch of desert, not the neighbouring cotton field. Even if you find some nice wide open spaces up here in ON, it's probably going to be agricultural land and I doubt farmers will take too kindly to bunches of skydivers being dropped on their fields and damaging their crops periodically. I know we get the odd off-DZ landing hitting neighbouring farmers fields already, but that's an odd skydiver every now and then and I wouldn't be surprised if dropzones had some kind of arrangement or insurance to compensate neighbouring farmers for crop damage due to off-DZ landings. This is a load of perhaps 10 skydivers, all of whom are going to land in his crop. Might there be insurance requirements or similar? Would this be considered an exhibition jump under Transport Canada regs?
Gotta be cool about it though. Shake hands, talk about skydiving, show credentials, and grease the right palm. It's an art, really....
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