Aerosaurus Hot Air Balloons recently got a message to the head office asking us to promote and aid fellow balloonist Mike Scholes in his trek to the North Pole to raise funds for St Dunstan’s charity.

Mike Scholes used to be a hot air balloon pilot and owner of a Sussex based balloon company called Chad Ballooning, until 2007, when his life changed dramatically and he lost 85% of his eye sight and was no longer to fly solo.

Since then he was pointed  to a charity called St Dunstan’s which gives training and support to blind and partially sighted ex-service men and woman. With the help of St Dunstan’s he regained his confidence and got support and advice that has since enabled him to carry on doing adventure sports such as skiing and kayaking.

Now, as a way of saying thank you, Mike hopes to walk to the North Pole and, weather permitting, fly a small Hot Air Balloon to show that with the right support and encouragement anything is possible. He will completing this enormous achievement and task with another fellow balloonist called David Hempleman-Adams. Who will be with him every step of the way.

Please show your support for Mike by visiting his site www.northpole2010.org

For the second time, this year, a balloon has been stolen again. Previously a Hot Air Balloon was stolen from Lindstrad Balloon factory in March (read more). This time however a balloon has gone from the British School of Ballooning.

Please note: On both occasions the relevant owners have no connection with Aerosaurus Balloons Ltd, however we’re just passing on the message to our customers to promote and raise awareness for the relevant companies.

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The British School of Ballooning has had a Cream and Burgundy Cameron 210 G-BXJC and 16ft Ifor Williams trailer stolen from Newlands Hall, Chelmsford, Essex over the weekend of 5th and 6th September 2009.

Inside the trailer was:

• Cameron A210 Envelope Registration G-BXJC
• Cameron Single-T basket with burgandy suede trim
• Cameron Triple Burner Twin Stealth & a Shadow, Vapour Take Off
• 4 x 80ltr Cameron Cylinders and 1 x 45ltr Inflation Cylinder
• 2 x Cameron Fans

It was stored under an open barn near the conference centre at Newlands Hall. The police have been notified of the theft and all local and national newspapers have been advised.

We have offered a £1000 reward to the general public for the return of the balloon, please pass this onto everyone you know as we are desperate to get the balloon back.

If you have any information or hear of any the equipment being offered please contact The British School of Ballooning on 01428 707 307 A.S.A.P.

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Due to an increase in demand for private/exclusive flights, Aerosaurus has decided to upgrade its smallest balloon.

The balloon will be used to provide champagne hot air balloon flights in the Devon and Cornwall area at our standard flight meeting locations as well as Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. Before it was scheduled for exclusive flights we wanted to thoroughly test it however and make modifications. Now with a new camera line attached to take In-Flight Photos with, it is ready.

The balloon was tested and inflated by Charlie Street, a trainee pilot sponsored and trained by Aerosaurus Balloons. Charlie will be flying the balloon alongside commercial pilots Arthur, Mandy and Colin.

On a seperate note sponsorship of the balloon is available with space on the large 120,000 cubic foot for advertising. For more information and details regarding advertising please contact Becky or alternatively feel free to visit our Balloon Sponsorship page in the Corporate Section.

Due to a increase in demand together with the need to constantly be keeping the fleet up to date, Aerosaurus Balloons have taken delivery of a additional 317,000 cubic foot, 16 passenger, Hot Air Balloon, Registration G-CFFL.

The balloon’s basket was made in Spain by Ultramagic, the burners in Italy by Bonanno and the envelope was made a bit closer to home, at Oswestry in Shropshire, by Lindstrad Hot Air Balloons. These companies were choosen as the major component suppliers owing to their worldwide reputations for high standards and quality.

Subject to final post delivery checks the balloon will have its maiden test flight within the next 2 weeks and then will go into service operating from sites in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset.

The main pilots will be Mandy Dickinson and Arthur Street who together have over 40 years experience worldwide of flying big balloons.

Operating 7 days a week, 2 flights per balloon per day this latest addition to the fleet increases Aerosaurus Balloons capacity to 81 passengers who can take to the skies over the Westcountry on each slot, ranging from 2 passenger exclusives to 16 passengers at a time on the daily scheduled flights. 

The photo is of the balloon having its pre-delivery inspection, inflated inside one of the giant dry docks at Cammell Laird shipbuilders, Birkenhead.

Aerosaurus is pleased to announce a new meeting location for its Somerset flights. We shall now be scheduling a couple of flights each month taking of from the fantastic grounds of Cricket St Thomas wildlife park.

Flights go from Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park for the UK’s only ‘Safari’ Balloon Flights. Cricket St. Thomas is also where the popular TV series To the Manor Born was filmed. Flights from the grounds will give views over Chard reservoir settled in attractive woodland, Hornsbury Mill and its water garden, the medieval Forde Abbey and the spectacular Blackdown Hills. Please see flight availability for flight dates.

Aerosaurus and Cricket St. Thomas have teamed up offering all our passengers a 30% entry discount for up to a family of five (2 adults & 3 children). See our new Cricket St. Thomas page for details.

During the months of February and March (2008) there will be training courses for PUT’s (Pilots Under Training) or anyone else who is entangled with ballooning (crew, staff e.t.c).

The Following is available:
February 9th-PUT Forum, Meterology and Air Law courses.
February 10th-Balloon Systems, Human Factors, Navigation and Flight Planning and PUT Forum courses.
March 15th- Landowner Relations Seminar, Pilots Forum.
March 16th- Disaster Managment Seminar, Disaster Fire & First Aid Seminar.
To find out more either contact Charlie Street or the Western Region BBAC directly.

Aerosaurus Balloons has probably the best landowner and customer relations in the UK. The companies Operations Manager and Chief Pilot Arthur Street is a South West Regional Land Owner Relations officer, liaising with the British Ballooning and Airship Club (BBAC), the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Country Land & Business Association (CLA). Arthur who previously worked in the farming industry has a great understanding of livestock and land issues and regards good landowner relations and an understanding of agriculture as paramount importance with running a business reliant on the good will of landowners and farmers (the balloons have to land somewhere!). After any balloon flight Aerosaurus always contacts the landowner or land manager and seeks permission to retreive the Hot Air Balloon and all crew and pilots receive training in land & livestock issues.

Aerosaurus Balloons also takes great care in its customer relations, with a friendly office and flying team more people then ever are coming to us through personal recommendation. In the 2007 flying season we recieved a constant stream of ‘thank yous’ from happy passengers, to see some of our 200+ passenger feedbacks from just one flying

season visit our feedback section .