AEROMEDIA
The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)


Balloons Over the Masino Castle

From November 1 to 4, 2007, the sky over the Masino Castle, historic building owned by FAI – the Italian Environment Foundation, hosted the “International Balloon Meeting", organized by Team Charbonnier Mongolfiere, based in Aosta. During the four days of the event, favoured by consistently good weather, 14 medium-size balloons of various nations took off from the park of the Castle.
Thousands people gathered for the Meeting, with hundreds enjoying the emotion of a silent ascent over the suggestive agricultural landscape of the Canavese area, circled by the imposing arch of the Alps, the towering Monte Rosa in the background, many small lakes and the long line of the morainic barrier pointing to the mouth of the Aosta Valley.
On Saturday 3, and Sunday 4, 2007, four “soft” races were performed. Three of them were classic “fox hunts”, the fourth being a flight with return to the departure point. This type of race requires the pilots to skilfully use different winds, at various altitudes.
Winner of the races was Carlo Rovelli, a long standing participant in the Italian Championships, and winner of the 2005 edition. Second ranking was Igor Charbonnier, who resulted first, on the final day, in both the last “fox hunt” and the “return” race. After an hour of repeated attempts, Igor succeeded in landing back in the park, refuelling, taking on board new passengers and returning to the sky. This is a very rare type of performance in the ballooning sport. Igor Charbonnier will take part in the forthcoming official races at Motegi, Japan, November 19-26, 2007. Third was Renzo Rebosio, who also performed an exceptional three-hour flight over the Canavese woods.
After the good overall results of this first Meeting, the organizers are planning a second edition of the “International Balloon Meeting Castello di Masino” in 2008.

In the picture: balloons take off during the 1st International Balloon Meeting Castello di Masino, Caravino, Italy, November 1-4, 2007. In foreground the Thunder-Colt 77 I-RIKY piloted by Nello Charbonnier, a pioneer of the Italian balloon movement and winner of the National Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2001. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, November 2007)