When I was invited to take a ride in a hot air baloon yesterday (Sat. April10.), the palpitation I felt in my heart must have been the same as that experienced by Jean -Francois Piatre Rozier when he tried out his invention on 21st November 1783 in Paris.
At least he knew what he was up to while I didn't know anything except that the hot air baloon has no engine but only a burner which shoots up roaring flames into the open end of a baloon. And you take a ride beneath the roaring flames in a wicker basket.
Shoot a searing hot flame into a nylon baloon to make it rise? What a crazy idea.
But that has become a crazy sports item now and I was invited to try it out. OMG..at least the airplane has an engine and a pair of wings! But hey, you can only fall downward not upward. The girls and my wife who arranged for the rendezvous with Jeans-Francois' contraption were very excited about it. Being a man I couldn't. of course, beg out and sheepishly agree to go along with them.
The baloons look wonderful and I started imagining a flight into the blue yonder. (See pics)
But look at the flame thrower that is supposed to shoot the roaring flames into the baloon, There was not one but two giant burners, enough to cook a live elephant. ( see pic)
Could the nylon balloon take the heat although the bottom part of the balloon is supposed to be made of heat resistent Nornex. There was some 100,000 cu ft of air in an average size baloon to be heated up so that it could carry from 3-5 persons.
Well, with a lot of trepidation, we were broken up into groups of 2 or 3 and helped into separate balloons ( with the pilot and an assistant in waiting). The evening was already getting dark in Pantai Chenang where we had the ride, and I couldn't note the expression on the face of my wife as we blasted up, stooping low to avoid the heat from the burner above our heads. Surprise. We went up only about the height of a tall coconut tree. There were thick ropes pegging us to the ground less we end up in Timbaktu. But that was enough to give us the scare since on landing a small whiff of wind could blow us up and away again.
Finally, here are some of the ladies who dared to take the ride in the air baloon.
They seemed to be very happy and enthusiatic about it. Lucky no on took a shot of me, cowering with fear and wounded pride
being unable to show a braver front than the ladies, hehehe.
12 comments:
Wah, dah ada Hot Air Ballon kat Pantai Chenang skrg. Few year back, masa g sana, tak de lagi benda ni dan sy cuma buat Parasailing. Tp, menurut pemahaman Yy, terapung smpi setinggi pokok kelapa lps tu ditarik balik turun ke bawah. Tu je?. Tak la best kalau mcm tu. Teringin nak naik dan Cross-country dlm Hot Air Ballon. Ada info ke dimana nak buat ni tp sure mahal kan?.
Sdr Norzah,
Had seen photos before of Sir Richard Branson over the Middle East? and Himalayas? ( in his bid to go around the world by hot air balloon)
I wonder how many gas canisters can the wicker basket take ( refuelling like aircrafts should be impossible)
Yy, naik hot balloon setinggi pokok kelapa akan jadi macam makan tak boleh telah bagi u. Atau joget tak boleh sentuh, hehehe. Tidak, belum ada permanent
hot air balloon station di Pantai Chenang; ini cuma kerana ada Pesta Air tajaan Kem. Pelancungan. Yang ada kat Puterajaya. Cuba google. Nak cross country mesti pakai airship bentuk bola rugby dan berisi helium. Kalau hydrogen nanti meletup kerana kepanasan u org. Hehehe, marah cikit takpe kan?
Bro Kk, normal size balloon 100,000 ft3 cuma boleh bawa dua cannister besar dgn 3-5 people. Yg Sir Richard Branson gunakan tu suoersize, mesti boleh muat 10 cannister dgn 2 org. Rupa-rupanya bukan main panas duduk bawah pancutan api macam jet tu. Tak betoi-betoi jet kita pulak terpancut, barulah balloon tu terbang lintang bukang nak eskep gas beracun hehehe. Salam.
Sdr Norzah,
If I were you, not only the heat will make you want to "perspire" but what would happen if something untoward happen? What safety precautions were taken should the balloon failed to function and career down like a ton of bricks?
Next time you have to ensure you are covered by insurance before taking into the "hot air".
The danger was there Akhi Halim but it looked so safe that no one seemed scared. There I learned that scariness is a communicable disease - one person gets it others will catch it too. But when no one feels anything, la khaufun alai him walaaa tahzanun. Lagi pun kalau ajal dah sampai dalam selimut pun ko juga, hehe. Naik pun tak tinggi dan ada tali yang mengekang ke bumi. Kalau apa-apa i was ready to slide down the rope, hehehe...
The danger was there Akhi Halim but it looked so safe that no one seemed scared. There I learned that scariness is a communicable disease - one person gets it others will catch it too. But when no one feels anything, la khaufun alai him walaaa tahzanun. Lagi pun kalau ajal dah sampai dalam selimut pun ko juga, hehe. Naik pun tak tinggi dan ada tali yang mengekang ke bumi. Kalau apa-apa i was ready to slide down the rope, hehehe...
First and foremost ... who's that HOT girl in that picture in that RED HOT T-shirt on that HOT air balloon ... hehehe
Talking about danger, u know that I have height fright and mild flying phobia .... but still take up the challenge coz I saw there were ropes attaching to the "basket" preventing the balloon from flying to Timbuktu.
Know what, as the balloon was descending, our flight captain was left the burner off for too long and we went down quite fast ... luckily it felt like melompat dari ketinggian 1.5 meter but u still felt the impact of landing.
Ayakkksss ... am packing at the office so belum update Mie's blog... huhuhu
That hot girl in the red hotTyshirt is Raden Jamilah Gus Dur oi, jangan pray pray! Agaknya pilot hotair balloon tu terlupa nak pasang gas lama sikit sebab ada yg lebih hot dekatnya hehehe.
U must be darn busy clearing up u r office to move to Penang, J, Abe Hasse tak nak tolong ke? Atau Abe Energy Saving tu? AT14 tentulah tak boleh tolong kerana belum hook lagi.
Anyway, that was a great evening at Pantai Chenang.
Hope can get another evening like that in Penang. And u know siapa yang mesti belanja, hahaha....
Hahaha ... tu lah I nak elaun keraian lebih sikit tahun nie coz there will be lots of entertaining hehehe
Bila ssume duty in Penang? Masih April 17? Dah siap kot, pants dan kasut baru ke? Takkan Puan Direktur masuk ofis pakai ....s..k...i...r....t. No offence just provoking supaya jangan ngantuk, hehehe.
J, i curi gambar dari u satu untuk blog ni.Cabtik sangat. Balloonnya bukan orangnya yg memang tak nampak pun, hehehe. Kena sita ke ni? Kalau tak dapat izin kena withdrawlah gambar tu.
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