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


Balloons and Clouds Over the Castle of Masino

On November 7 and 8, 2009, the third “International Balloon Meeting" – held at the Castle of Masino, not far from Turin, Italy – was conditioned by unfavourable weather conditions which limited the programme to two collective flights, on the Saturday.
The event, organized as usual by the Aosta-based Team Charbonnier Mongolfiere, featured a total of 12 balloons from various nations, almost all of them being medium-sized. The exception was the Cameron Z-210 recently bought by Charbonnier, a huge, 24 gore, 6.000 m3 (210.000 ft3) balloon able to lift up to ten passengers.
As in the previous editions, the take-offs were made from the wide clearing inside the wood surrounding the Castle. With an unexpectedly large attendance, many hundreds of people gathered for the lighter-than-air Meeting, many of them enjoying the emotion of their first balloon flight.
Due to the inclement weather, no races took place. The pilots had only one objective: to lift as many passengers as possible, avoiding the surrounding trees and TV antennas on the roofs of the nearby village.
Among the many stands set up around the take-off field, offering the best horticulture and gastronomy of the Canavese area, was the marquee promoting the renowned French community of Brissac-Quincé, also seat of the Montgolfières d’Anjou balloon club (www.montgolfieres.fr.)















In the picture: Balloons over the Castle of Masino, in Italy. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, November 2009)