You can learn to be a hot air balloon pilot with Ballooning Adventures. Training can be completed in less than 3 months, subject to the availability of the student and the vagaries of the British weather.

Ballooning Adventures has among its pilots, qualified instructors and our Chief Pilot is also a Civil Aviation Authority appointed examiner, we are therefore in a position to provide all training and examining in-house. Training is normally provided in the UK, however, if you wish to accelerate your training we can provide resources from our base in Italy, where the weather is more conducive to training.

The course in Italy can be completed in 7/10 days.

Balloons are registered aircraft and are therefore subject to similar controls and regulations as fixed wing or rotary aircraft. The regulatory body in the UK is the Civil Aviation Authority.

In order to fly a balloon for pleasure and sports purposes the pilot must possess a Private Pilots Licence (PPL). The carriage of fare paying passengers requires a Commercial Licence (CPL).
To gain a PPL, a student pilot must undergo approximately 20 hours practical training at the controls of a balloon, together with ground school studies covering the following areas:

Navigation
Meteorology
Aviation Law
Airmanship & Ballooning Systems
Human Performance

Should you wish to learn more about our training facilities please contact Mike Forster on 01434 601031 or ballooning@aol.com