Hot air balloon that missed its mark

A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket that carries the pilot, passengers and a controlled source of heat. In most cases, the heat source is an open flame caused by burning liquid propane.

The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant, since it has a lower density than the cooler air outside the envelope.

In modern balloons, the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the inlet of the balloon, which is closest to the burner flame, is made from a fire-resistant material such as Nomex.

Modern balloons have been made in many shapes, such as rocket ships and the shapes of various commercial products, though the traditional shape is used for most non-commercial applications.

The Chinese sky lantern is the precursor to the hot air balloon and was invented during the Chinese Three Kingdom era (220-280 CE).

It was made from light paper and shaped like an inverted bag with a small flame at the opening, which heated the air inside the bag. As the heated air density became lower, the lantern rose into the sky.

The hot air balloon is the first successful human-carrying flight technology.

The first untethered manned hot-air-balloon flight in the world was made in Paris, France, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes on November 21, 1783, in a balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers. The brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier developed a hot-air balloon in Ardèche, France, and demonstrated it publicly on September 19, 1783, making an unmanned flight lasting ten minutes.

The first hot air balloon flown in the Americas was launched from the Walnut Street Prison yard in Philadelphia on January 9, 1793, by the French aeronaut Jean Pierre Blanchard, before a crowd of spectators that included US President George Washington.

Modern hot air balloons, with an onboard heat source, were developed by American aviators Ed Yost and Jim Winker during the 1950s.

Their work resulted in the first successful flight on October 22, 1960. The first modern hot air balloon to be made in the United Kingdom was the Bristol Belle, built in 1967.

The design of hot air balloons makes it difficult to achieve controlled and precise steering. Pilots achieve basic directional control by changing altitude and catching different wind streams.

Unmanned balloons, which are not guided in flight, are known as "free balloons" and very regularly drift off course.

Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than simply drifting with the wind are known as thermal airships.

In developed countries, computer modelling using historical wind and temperature data is used to predict the path of a hot air balloon on any given day and time.

At present, hot air balloons are used primarily for recreational purposes. They are outfitted with a variety of instruments to aid the pilot. These include an altimeter, a rate-of-climb indicator, an envelope air-temperature indicator and an outside air-temperature indicator. A GPS receiver is normally included to indicate ground speed, position and altitude.

During the period January 28- February 4, 2023, a high-altitude balloon originating from China flew across North American airspace, including Alaska, Western Canada and the contiguous United States.

On February 4, 2023, the US Air Force shot down the balloon over US territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina. Debris from the wreckage was recovered and sent to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis. After a preliminary analysis of the debris in June 2023, US officials said the balloon carried intelligence-gathering equipment, but did not appear to have sent information back to China.

As with other aircraft, balloons flown in the US must be registered and have a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assigned N-number and an airworthiness certificate and pass annual inspections. Pilots flying N-registered hot air balloons must have a pilot certificate from the FAA, with the rating of "lighter-than-air free balloon."

In November 2005, TSTT launched its Bmobile promotion campaign as part of the ongoing $1 billion upgrade of its GSM network.

The promotion campaign included the use of a hot-air balloon painted in the Bmobile livery, which would have made regular flights to different parts of the country.

The balloon was owned by Canadian Company, Sundance Balloons International Ltd and was scheduled to make its first flight on December 3, 2005, departing at 7 am from Trincity Mall, travelling along the eastern main road, into Port of Spain.

The TTCAA denied TSTT’s application for approval to conduct the flight on the grounds that the free balloon flight path does not have precise steering control and having regard to the southwest direction of the wind, the balloon can drift and encroach the flight path of aircraft landing at Piarco International Airport.

TSTT appealed with the TTCAA’s line minister who requested the TTCAA to review its decision using measurable parameters to accommodate TSTT’s application without compromising safety.

A TTCAA technical team met with representatives of TSTT and Sundance Balloons International to hammer out an approval protocol.

After several hours, the TTCAA approved the TSTT request, with stipulated conditions. Among the conditions were altitude restrictions and an undertaking that the pilot would land the balloon should it begin to drift and encroach the approach path of the aircraft landing at Piarco.

The next day, after some delay, the balloon was launched from Trincity Mall. It moved very slowly along a southwest path and after approximately two hours, the pilot landed the balloon at a recreation ground in Frederick Settlement, Caroni.

Another flight was launched the next day. On this occasion, the balloon travelled in a west-southwest direction and had to land in the Caroni Bird Sanctuary.

TSTT then realised its plans to make regular flights to different parts of the country with the Bmobile-branded hot air balloon were not feasible.

Subsequently, the balloon was tethered for days at the northeastern corner of the intersection of the Churchill Roosevelt and the Uriah Butler highways adjacent to the Nestle compound. There it attracted lots of attention from passersby.