To celebrate the day we’re offering flights through out the week. To check availability just visit our availability and flight reservations page.

If you’ve got something else planned for the special occasion, don’t worry. You can always purchase an open dated balloon flight voucher to give on the day that can be used anytime within the next 12 months. This makes it an ideal, un-restricted option.

If you want to go that bit further don’t forget that you can always purchase a nationwide hot air balloon flight voucher which will enable you to fly from any of our launch sites in England, Scotland or Wales.

So whether your looking to fly a hot air balloon in Scotland, or the South West of England, we’ve got it covered. Also with our range of Gift Boxes you can really create The Ideal Christmas Present to give to your loved one, family member or friend.

The voucher is now selling, for a limited time, at £145 saving a total of £14! For a full list of our Nationwide Flight Meeting Locations please visit our nationwide flights page. But here are just a few Counties we cover:

• Bath
• Bristol
• Essex
• Hampshire
• Kent
• Norfolk
• Oxford
• Monmouthshire

Aerosaurus Hot Air Balloons

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

The DVD can be purchased for a reduced rate of £12.99.

The trailer, which contained the balloon, is still missing however the actual contents from the balloon were found dumped in a field and recovered by the police over the weekend.

The balloon stolen from the Lindstrad Balloon factory, in March, is still missing however and is beleived to be in Britain at present.

If you fancied a balloon ride in the South West, Essex or anywhere else in Britain then feel free to visit our Online Shop and buy balloon flight vouchers online.

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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James flew with us on the 20th of July and went from the Terrace playing fields, in Sherborne, all the way to Shaftesbury show ground (near Gillingham) on a Dorset Hot Air Balloon Ride.

If you have a video of your balloon flight feel free to send it into the office and we’ll place it online for you.

16 year old Jake Prowse worked for Aerosaurus on a work experience week. During his time with Aerosaurus Balloons he went on a training flight with Private Pilot, Charlie Street, who was helping Tom Hoare build up his hours for his PPL (B) license.

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Last Friday I had the experience of sitting in on an Aerosaurus pilot training flight. We went from the base in Exeter to a launch site in Tiverton. We took the 120 balloon, which stands for the envelope size which is 120 000 cubic feet. The flight lasted just over an hour, but as this was not a commercial flight we did not have champagne on board! We landed down near Honiton and hour later after doing some practice touch downs!

When we got back to the yard the much bigger 16 passenger 317 thousand cubic feet balloon was there. It had just come up from down in Devon. The 210 thousand cubic feet balloon had just been taken up to Salisbury where the flights had just started as we can not fly up there before the 1st of August. (See all of our balloons)

After seeing the training flight I have made my mind up that I am going to start learning and go for my license. Then I can fly anywhere; from Launceston through Plymouth up to Somerset, I could be your pilot on your very own Champagne Balloon flight, some in the South West!

The story behind ‘Champagne Balloon Flights‘ is one of great fascination. Dating back to 1783 and the first flights, held in France by the creators ‘The Montgolfier Brothers’.

The balloons would be operated by their Peasants who would put charcoal on a fire in the balloon to make it rise up into the sky. The problem with this though, was that they would get black faces from soot and upon landing the balloon they would cause great commotion and install fear throughout the farm workers who would see these black faced ‘devils’ in a large ‘fiery dragon’ which they’d never seen or heard of before.

Farm workers and village people would then proceed to chase after the balloon and attack it, tearing the fabric and destroying any chance it’d have of ever being airborne again.

To prevent this from happening anymore The Montgolfier Brothers decided to chase after the balloon on their horses with bottles of champagne and then when the balloon would touch down on to the ground they’d offer the drinks to the locals, calming them and thus saving their new invention.

Now, 226 years on, Aerosaurus Balloons keeps up this tradition offering passengers complimentary champagne as well as offering farmers wine and a free balloon flight upon landing. All adding to that ‘Once in a lifetime experience’.

The balloon has no connection with Aerosaurus itself, however the ballooning community is small and we’d like to help increase awareness and inform members of the general public to help with the search.

Items Stolen

- 1x Redrow (manufacturer Ifor Williams) trailer.

- 1x Hot Air Balloon Envelope (registration G-RROW).

- 1x Hot Air Balloon Basket.

- 6x Cameron Gas Cylinders.

- 1x Jetstream II Double Burner.

- 1x Lindstrad 8hp Fan.

- Collection of equipment including first aid kid, fire extinguisher and passenger bag.

The thieves ripped out a fence and a steel reinforced concrete post at the rear of the factory, through which they took the trailers. They were last seen on the A5 heading towards Wrexham/Chelster at 5:45PM on the 15th of March.

If you have any information or can help in any way please contact Kevin Pilsbury at Lindstrad Balloons on:

Tel: +44(0) 1691 671717
Fax: +44(0) 1691 671122
Mobile: 07890 847909
Email: kevin@lindstrand.co.uk or Alasdair Ritchie 07775 897616, alasdair@lindstrand.co.uk