Egypt4u

MD's account of chasing balloons in the recovery vehicle took me back to our own early morning pick ups when we took flights over Luxor. Gliding silently over houses on the West Bank with people still sleeping on those cane beds and others just starting their day. Then catching a thermal and rising swiftly to well over 2000 feet with the sugar cane fields as you drift south. We have only done 3 flights but they remain some of the most magical experiences.

Here are a few pictures from our balcony at the Nile Palace of some morning take offs, and one of a different view of my often posted Cathedral.







Please check your albums and post some more......Happy memories.

I have a full 1 hour long video of a balloon flight from take off and right up to the brace position as we land in the sugar cane field

Super photos Grandad of the balloons & of course the cathedral

Great photos Grandad. The balloons are always a bright lovely contrast to the background colours of the landscape.

Particularly liked the balloon through the palm - great idea for a shot

Great pictures as usual Grandad

You may be interested to know that I designed the multi-coloured balloon with nine different colours for practical reasons.

If a panel of material needs replacement in a solid colour, it will never match because of changes caused by wear and tear on the main body. However with the multi-coloured spiral there is no direct contrast. There are even three shades of green.

By putting the yellow between the red and green it brightens it up, but most people don't notice there is a gold strip between the yellow and green. This reflects the low early morning sun, so especially when viewed from the east bank the balloon is more noticeable............

We did have royal blue balloons with our name on, but in practice thought it spoiled the landscape, like a flying billboard. I think the spiral is rather light hearted and less stodgy.

That's my excuse anyway

P.S. When we inflated the first balloon with gold panels the ones nearest the burner melted.
The factory did know this would happen, but forgot to make the bottom panels yellow. At least it was a test flight with the new balloon so there was no delay for the passengers.

We were quite high and in good company in this one, albeit it was a bit hazy.


And looking down on the villages you can see how houses are built up as families increase in size. And there is someone sleeping centre frame

I always felt like it was a bit of an invasion of their privacy when we would fly low over the houses, I was actually quite embarrassed by it if they were sleeping and looked up as we passed over them.

Me too, but I found out over the years that most people thought it was funny, and certainly if they were wake would wave with smiles. Don't forget they have no idea what can bee seen by the passengers in the balloon which is usually out of their line of sight in moments. The same with landing, anywhere near a village streams of people will appear to "help". It's a bit of excitement in their often humdrum lives. Landowners like to play aggrieved, but in our case they know they will be well compensated even if there is no damage. It gives them a bit of prestige, so good for them.

Luxor people are innately hospitable. If anything this is even more pronounced in the country areas. I know them well, I respect them and wish there were more communities in this world like them.

Grandad wrote:We were quite high and in good company in this one, albeit it was a bit hazy.


And looking down on the villages you can see how houses are built up as families increase in size. And there is someone sleeping centre frame

This is a very interesting picture Grandad, I have seen very few of this particular balloon. The boss wanted a green balloon, but there is an international legal obligation for hot air balloons to be composed of contrasting colours, or to carry contrasting pennants or banners. I managed to get him to agree to the spiral three shades of green and gold because of was clear from my attitude that if he didn't like it he could do it himself!

If one is designing a balloon, the factory will supply a rectangular grid with reference numbers going up the side and across the bottom like a map. One just fills in the grid showing the colour of each square and allowing for the shape of the envelope - each square being a panel of material. Unfortunately the panels are not all the same size and the turning vents and the separate parachute at the top have to included in the colour scheme.. I loved doing it, but it does take time and concentration.

Mad Dilys wrote:Luxor people are innately hospitable. If anything this is even more pronounced in the country areas. I know them well, I respect them and wish there were more communities in this world like them.

I can certainly concur with that MD. We have had the benefit of visiting villages on the west bank with ex pat friends and even in the poorest homes you receive a warm welcome and the inevitable tea.