For six days, balloons filled the Anjou sky as part of the celebration. A few kilometers away from Angers, the Brissac-Quincé village had organized one of the most prestigious "aerostation" rendezvous: The French Balloon Championship.

Running through the small township of Brissac-Quincé (2500 inhabitants), is the Aubance. During a year, 250 volunteers gave much of their precious time, hard work and efforts to help make that major event happen, and gather more than 20000 people.

Two categories of partakers: flights in competition, and "party" flights. 52 competitors are to follow routes, throw "marks" on targets and various contests are to give the casting vote. The 33 other partakers, out of the competition, will see their flights regulated, but not timed.

Nothing is simple for those who decide to jump in the adventure that is the "aerostation"! Flights take place around 7am, and around 7pm. These moments of the day are indeed the most favorable to the winds, hopefully with soft breezes and moderate temperatures. These two conditions are essential for the flight to be permitted.

Therefore, one has to get up very early for a breakfast with the pilots, and most important, one must be present for the essential weather report meeting to pilots and members of the staff:
The strength and direction of the winds as well as zones to be avoided.

Fields of balloons cross the sky in the early morning mist. A magical show

A few precautions to follow:

A map of the area is distributed during the opening meeting, indicating zones and red lines. It is forbidden to fly over these zones below 1000ft and absolutely banned for landing. These areas are mostly animal farms: horses, pigs, as well as ostriches and kangaroos! Some animals' reactions due to the low flight of balloons can be unexpected. The growling of the burners seems to cause fear, especially with pigs that suffer from cardiac arrests!

The departure:

Before settling down on a runway, the pilot must check the direction of the wind with the help of a little balloon blown with hydrogen that he lets fly to the sky. The direction of the wind is then defined, and allows directing the balloon to the ground. Afterwards, it is time to blow the balloon with the help of a propeller-engine. A few minutes later, the balloon is filled with air: it is time then to heat up the air trapped in the balloon with burners attached to the nacelle. The balloon is ready for lift off: immediate boarding for the few lucky passengers!

Impressions during the flight:

It feels as if the balloon were "swimming" in the air as it travels, with the only difference that nothing seems to oppose itself to the softness of its flight. Everything is soft, like stillness, and the balloon follows its flight along the wind. The few growls of the burners mark its quite journey above houses, forests and fields. The view of flying balloons all around is also a delight to the eyes. On the ground, a car follows the route of the balloon to meet upon landing. This is called the "retrouving" (retrieving), and is not always easy due to the roughness of the roads and lands, compared to the smoothness of the air!

A few definitions:

Download the Little Prince's balloon screensavers in the Friends' Club

All the resident of Brissac-Quincé village wich work for The French Balloon Championship.

L'intérieur de la mongolfière
du Petit Prince

Frank Béjat, The aeronaut of the Little Prince's balloon

You want to fly in the Little Prince balloon?

Franck Béjat, aeronaut
Le Petit Maillard
01400 Châtillon sur Chalaronne
FRANCE
T/F: + 33 (0)4 74 55 07 51

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