Hot air ballooning originated in in Paris, France. The first ever ascent of a man into the air was November 21st, 1783 in Paris when two noblemen from the court of King Louis XVI ascended into the sky in a smoke filled hot air balloon. They flew for about 30 minutes and landed in a vineyard. The local farmers were very suspicious of this fiery dragon descending from the sky, and tried to stab the hot air balloon with their pitchforks. Fortunately the two heroes were carrying a couple of bottles of champagne with which they toasted their safe landing and to this day balloonists still celebrate their return to earth with a glass of champagne.

The early balloons were made of silk and paper and the fire was fuelled with straw, old meat and sheep’s wool. They were pretty hard to control and were quickly replaced by hydrogen or gas balloons (the ones with the sand bags for ballast) which have continued virtually unchanged to today.

Modern hot air balloons were developed in the USA during the 1960s and two technological advances were important. One was the use of strong but light nylon fabric for the actual balloon or canopy, and the second was the propane (LPG) gas burner that heats the air in the balloon and provides the lift.

Ballooning started as a sport for a few enthusiasts in the USA and England in the 60s and spread to Australia in the early 70s. The first regular passenger charter operation was in Kenya when wild life film maker Alan Root established Balloon Safaris in the Masai Mara game reserve. Modern commercial hot air balloons cost between $80,000 and $250,000. The envelope (balloon) has a life of approximately 600 – 800 hours.