In the year 1997 we've definitely lost our hearts to the gas balloons... Why 1997? Well, that's the year when Philippe De Cock and Ronny Van Havere reintroduced gas ballooning in Belgium!
In May 1999 we attended for the very first time a gas balloon meeting in Germany (Marl). 18 balloons were filled with hydrogen gas but the meteo briefing revealed that the weather was not good enough for a safe flight. The meeting was cancelled and thousands of cubic meters of gas were released.
We were very disappointed because at that time everything was still new to us. Of the 18 balloons that were inflated that day we have never seen 3 of them again. Sometimes we dream of a real oldtimer gas balloon meeting, but we fear this will never be realised.
Once in a while, however, an old balloon starts to fly again. A couple of years ago OO-BAZ raised from the dust after many years of inactivity. And now it is PIRAT's turn to colour the sky again, thanks to Sabrina and Stefan Handl.
On August 27th, 5 years after its last flight, the balloon started its second life as D-OCOL. It took off in Burgkirchen, accompanied by D-ORZL. 3 hours later Sabrina put the balloon safely down in Kupferstatt.
You can find pictures and the complete story on www.frankenballon.de!
Glück ab und Gut land
Donald & Luc Buyle
