Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
- Will I be cold during the flight?
- How high does the balloon fly?
- Will I be scared of heights?
- What should I wear and bring?
- Will I experience motion sickness?
- What happens on the morning of the flight?
- How long does it all take?
- Do you fly if it is raining?
- On the TV last night I saw there will be some bad weather next week, will you be flying?
- How safe is ballooning?
- How much does a balloon flight cost?
- What does the breakfast include?
- What days do you fly?
- Are there any age limits?
- Can people with disabilities fly in the balloons?
Answers
Will I be cold during the flight?
Normally it is no colder in the balloon than it is on the ground, and some days it can be warmer once airborne and above the colder and calmer layer of air sitting on the surface in our valley. Because the balloon moves with the wind there is little or no wind chill experienced during flight.
How high does the balloon fly?
Most flights we usually get as high as 2000 feet above sea level for a look around, however this will depend on the wind speed and direction at altitude on the morning of flight. The joy of ballooning is being able to fly low, to pick leaves from the tree tops and skim across rivers and dams. This is what makes ballooning very unique compared to other forms of aviation.
Will I be scared of heights?
Ballooning is one of the most natural and safest feelings you will ever experience. It is very different to looking over the edge of a tall building or a cliff. Some of our pilots actually have a fear of heights and avoid working on the roof of their houses, but in the balloons they don’t have any problems. Your pilot will aim to stay low for the first 10 minutes of the flight to allow all passengers to relax and see how gentle ballooning really is. If you find you have a problem during the flight the pilot can always land the balloon somewhere to let you hop out (although no one ever wants to hop out once they are aloft). There is an aura of calmness that seems to come over everyone onboard including the most nervous of passengers.
What should I wear and bring?
Wear casual clothing (jeans & jacket), clothes that can get a little dirty, and sturdy footwear. A hat is also advisable. Don’t forget your camera and plenty of film or be sure to empty your digital camera’s memory card!
Will I experience motion sickness?
Ballooning is one of the smoothest and most gentle ways to fly. Early in the morning at sunrise there are no bumpy air pockets around and everything is very stable. The only bumps you should ever feel in a balloon are those few bumps sometimes felt on landing whilst the balloon comes to rest.
What happens on the morning of the flight?
We meet passengers at the Northam Airfield about 30 mins prior to sunrise. After coffee and a briefing you will be taken on-board our vehicles to the launch site where you are invited to help with the inflation of the balloon. Once inflated everyone climbs aboard the balloon and we fly for 45mins - 1 hour, and our retrieve crew will follow us and meet us at the landing site. Once the balloon is packed away you will be taken to the breakfast venue for a sumptuous breakfast with champagne.
How long does it all take?
Please allow 4-5 hours for the whole morning’s experience.
Do you fly if it is raining?
The limiting factor for a balloon flight is the wind rather than rain and usually when it is raining it is also too windy for ballooning. However Northam only gets about one tenth of the rain that falls in Perth. We have lots of days where some of our passengers will drive up from Perth early in the morning before their balloon flight, leaving Perth where it is raining and windy and they get to Northam where it is blue skies and sunshine and perfect for ballooning. Quite often the rain doesn’t make it over the Darling escarpment to Northam unless there is a big strong front pushing it inland.
On the TV last night I saw there will be some bad weather next week, will you be flying?
Please keep in mind that the forecast that you see on the television is a forecast for Perth and may not necessarily reflect the conditions for ballooning in Northam at sunrise on the morning of the flight. Our flights take place early in the morning at sunrise when the air is remaining cool and stable, and not affected by the day’s wind currents. This time is about one hour after sunrise. This is our “Weather Window”. Our flying area in the Avon Valley has been chosen not only for its picturesque rural landscape, but also for the excellent conditions for ballooning at sunrise. This can mean that some mornings may prove to be ‘flyable’ even when the forecast for the rest of the day may not be promising. If we know in advance that the weather will not be suitable for ballooning we will contact our passengers by 1pm the day prior if we are going to cancel early.
How safe is ballooning?
At Windward we are proud of our impeccable long term safety record which is a feat that is unparalleled by any ballooning company in Australia. Our pilots are fully licensed Commercial Ballloon Pilots with many years experience and all of our operations are conducted in strict accordance with the rules and regulations of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Just like Qantas and Virgin Blue we hold an Air Operators Certificate issued by CASA and we are audited by their operations inspectors on a regular basis. Our fleet of balloons are all no more than 10 years old and are fully maintained in accordance with the manufacturers periodic maintenance schedules and CASA requirements. At Windward your safety is our priority!
How much does a balloon flight cost?
- $300 per person for a weekend or public holiday flight
- $250 per person for a weekday flight
If you are a family with children aged up to 16 years old please ask our office about our weekday family specials.
What does the breakfast include?
Our breakfast is sumptuous! You won’t need any lunch afterwards.
Breakfast is served in style in the Fountain Restaurant at historic Fitzgeralds Hotel in Northam, after the flight. To start off with there is a buffet selection including a choice of cereals, yoghurt, a fresh fruit platter, a cheeseboard, fresh breads, pastries, cakes and scones. Then a fully cooked breakfast of hashbrown, tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, bacon, sausage and egg is served to your table. Champagne is served to toast your flight. Coffee, tea and juices are also available. Please advise our office if there are any vegetarians or special dietary requirements in your party.
What days do you fly?
Our season is from April through till late November. The hot and windy summer weather in WA is unsafe for ballooning. During the season we schedule flights every Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Friday at dawn with no minimum number of passengers required. On other days during the week we will schedule a flight once we have a total of four passengers confirmed. If you have less than this number, and want a specific date that we do not have a flight already scheduled, we would waitlist you pending more enquiries. The only day we don’t fly is Thursdays which is our pilots official rostered day off to comply with CASA’s strict duty time limitations for pilots.
Are there any age limits?
There is no upper age limit for our flights. As long as the passenger is fit enough to climb in and out of the basket, and can comfortably stand unaided for the one hour duration of the flight, then age will not pose a barrier. The baskets have foot-step holes at either end where you climb on-board and we do carry a small stepladder with our Ground Crew for use at the launch and landing sites. The balloon basket is 1.2 metres high.
Most of our landings are quite gentle and 9 times out of 10 we are able float the baskets up onto their trailers, prior to deflation of the balloon. However there are the occasional bumpy ones. The bumps felt on a landing we usually equate to be no more impact than the force you would feel when you jump from the second step on a flight of stairs to the ground missing the step in between. The bumps occur if we are coming in to land and the wind pushes the balloon along we bump along whilst we lose our momentum or ground speed. There may be one of these bumps or a few depending on the ground speed of the balloon at the time of landing. Our baskets are luxuriously padded for comfort and safety with thick cushioning in the floor and on the landing side of the basket to help reduce the impact of any bumps on landing.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority Laws state that infants 3 years of age or younger are not permitted to fly in hot air balloons.
We recommend that children are at least 8-10 years old, at which age they are usually tall enough to see over the edge of the basket (which is 1.2 m high) without being held up, but most importantly, mature enough to stand for an hour to enjoy the balloon flight without becoming bored (and disrupting other passengers).
Can people with disabilities fly in the balloons?
Unfortunately our Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Australia) permit precludes us from carrying handicapped persons in the balloons; as defined in the Civil Aviation Orders. CAO 20.16.3 defines a handicapped person as follows:
“A handicapped person is a person requiring special attention because of illness, injury, age, congenital malfunction, or other temporary or permanent incapacity or disability which makes that person unable without special facilities or assistance to utilise air transport facilities and services as effectively as persons who are not so afflicted”.
If the passenger is able to stand unaided in the basket for the one hour flight, we could probably work around this, but if they would require special facilities such as a wheel chair or other support, this would be seen as posing a safety risk to both them and to the other passengers on board the balloon. Whilst most of our landings are gentle, there can sometimes be a few bumps along the ground as the balloon comes to a halt.