For my 40th birthday my friends got together & bought me a flight in a hot air balloon

the ticket for the flight came as a gift voucher

after a telephone call to check the flight was "on" for that evening

 I arrived at the launch area in time to help unpack the balloon

The balloon was laid out on the grass

ready for inflation with cold air

this was done by two petrol engines fans

as the balloon inflated you start to realise just how big these things are

you could hold a dance in here !

Our pilot for the flight was Dave, he has 22 years experience flying hot air balloons.

Dave gave us all instruction on what to do & what was going to happen during the flight.

after installing most of the passengers the burner was fired & the balloon filled with hot air.

after a few mins the balloon & basket was standing upright & the last of the passengers loaded.

The safety rope was released & a few more roars on the burner

& we were airborne drifting gently with the wind.

The view from the air was spectacular

after a steady start Dave gave the burner a really big burs that saw us climbing at over

1000 ft per minute

As we zoomed up to 6500ft

we drifted over Ambergate & on towards Belper

Where we descended at 1000ft per minute to a more intimate 400ft

then down lower to roof top level over Kilburn

And finally landing near Horsley

All good things come to an end, the balloon is deflated & packed away.

After a champagne toast we were all given certificates before travelling back to the launch site.