The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)
2nd Italian Single-seat Balloon Meeting in Barolo
On October 18 and 19, 2008, the town of Barolo and the so called Langa - a romantic hilly area with world-famous wineyards - hosted the Second Italian Single-Seat Balloon Meeting. Again, most of the cloudhoppers came from the United Kingdom. In fact, also last summer, the weather conditions in UK were particularly unfavourable for ballooning, so a dedicated meeting in Italy is becoming more and more popular.
The logistics of the 2008 Italian cloudhopper meeting were again organized by Pietro Contegiacomo, an enthusiast Italian ballonist and owner of Balloon Promotion, one of the few certified balloon and hot-air airship commercial operators in Italy.
The single-seat hot-air balloons – also dubbed cloudhoppers - have a small envelope, usually shaped like an inverted droplet, with a volume of no more than 42,000 cubic feet. They can be equipped with a small basket or with a very basic seat connected to one or two gas bottles.
During the two days of the Meeting, the 11 participating single-seat balloons made a total of 4 collective non-competitive flights, taking off from the area around the sport fields of Barolo. The "Paolo Contegiacomo Memorial" prize, now in its 2nd year, dedicated by the British balloonists to the late pioneer of the Italian balloon movement during the ‘Seventies, was awarded to Richard Sargeant of the UK, a true enthusiast, always ready to share his wide experience with other pilots.
The Aeromedia editor/photographer was on board the four-place escort balloon during the fourth sortie, in a mild autumn afternoon. After a stunning terrain-following flight over the autumnal hills and red-roof farms, favoured by a light North-Westerly wind, Geoff Grimes, an expert British balloonist, gently landed in the outskirts of Monforte. As usual, a willing family from a nearby villa came out to help with dismantling the balloon and folding up the envelope.
In the picture: Take off phase during the 2st Italian Single-seat Balloon Meeting held at Barolo, Cuneo Province, on October 18 and 19, 2008. (Aeromedia)
