Trivia Questions about Hot Air Balloons
What is hot air ballooning?
A: Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons.
Attractive aspects of ballooning include what?
A: The exceptional quiet, the lack of a feeling of movement, and the
bird's-eye view.
Since the balloon moves with the direction of the
winds, the passengers feel what?
A: Absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the
balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or
speed.
Hot air ballooning has been recognized by Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as the what?
A: The safest air sport in aviation, and fatalities in hot air balloon
accidents are rare, according to statistics from the National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB).
The first clearly recorded instance of a balloon
carrying passengers used hot air to generate buoyancy and was built by whom?
A: The brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in Annonay,
France.
After experimenting with unmanned balloons and flights
with animals, when did the first tethered balloon flight with humans on
board take place?
A: On October 19, 1783, with the scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier,
the manufacture manager, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and Giroud de Villette, at
the Folie Titon in Paris.
When was the first free flight with human passengers?
A: It was on November 21, 1783.
What did King Louis XVI originally decree?
A: That condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along
with Marquis Francois d'Arlandes, successfully petitioned for the honor.
Modern hot air ballooning was born in 1960, when Ed
Yost did what?
A: He launched a balloon with a new nylon envelope and propane burner system
of his own invention.
Yost's first balloon was basketless, with nothing but
what?
A: A seat for him to ride on, but in a few years he and other balloon
enthusiasts would develop balloons much like the ones used today.
Today, hot air balloons are used primarily for what?
A: Recreation.
According to the FAA's General Aviation Survey data, in
2012, there were how many personally owned and flown balloons?
A: About 2,300.
How many commercial sightseeing ride operators where
there in the United States in 2012?
A: About 495.
Balloon rides are available in many locations around
the world and are especially popular where?
A: In tourist areas.
On November 26, 2005, Vijaypat Singhania set the world
altitude record for highest hot air balloon flight, reaching what altitude?
A: 21,290 meters (69,852 feet).
He took off from downtown Mumbai, India and landed
where?
A: 240 km (150 mi) south in Panchale.
The previous record of 19,811 meters (64,980 feet) had
been set by whom?
A: Per Lindstrand on June 6, 1988, in Plano, Texas.
However, as with all unpressurised aircraft, oxygen is
needed for all crew and passengers on any balloon flight that reaches and
exceeds what altitude?
A: About 3,810 meters (12,500 feet).
On January 15, 1991, a balloon called the Pacific Flyer
carrying Per Lindstrand (born in Sweden, but resident in the UK) and Richard
Branson of the UK flew from Japan to where?
A: Northern Canada, completing 7,671.91 km.
With a volume of 74,000 m³ (2,600,000 ft³), the balloon
envelope was what?
A: The largest ever built for a hot air craft.
Designed to fly in the trans-oceanic jet streams the
Pacific Flyer recorded the highest ground speed for a manned balloon of
what?
A: 245 mph (394 km/h).
The distance record was broken on March 21, 1999, when
the Breitling Orbiter 3 carrying Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones touched
down in Egypt, having done what?
A: Circumnavigated the globe and set records for duration (19 days, 21 hours
and 55 minutes) and distance (46,759 km).
When are most hot air balloon launches made?
A: During the cooler hours of the day, at dawn or two to three hours before
sunset.
At these times of day, the winds are typically light
making for what?
A: Easier launch and landing of the balloon.
Flying at these times also avoids thermals, which are
what?
A: Vertical air currents caused by ground heating that make it more
difficult to control the balloon.
In the extreme, the downdrafts associated with strong
thermals can exceed the ability of a balloon to climb and can thus do what?
A: Force a balloon into the ground.
