April 2000
(ISSN 0887-6061) is
published monthly by Balloon Life
Magazine, Inc., 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2331
Subscription $30 per year, U.S.A.
Periodicals postage paid at Seattle,
Washington and at additional mailing
offices.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
Balloon Life, 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2331.
Copyright © 2000 Balloon Life
Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. No
part of this monthly publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form
orby any means without written
permission from thepublisher; requests
should be directed to theeditor. All
manuscripts and contributions should
beaccompanied by stamped, addressed
return envelopes. Reasonable care will
betaken in handling manuscripts, but
the magazine assumes no responsi-
bility for material submitted.
Single Copy $3.50
by mail $4.50 ($7 foreign).
Subscription $30 ayear (12 issues),
Canada & Mexico $33 US currency,
othercountries $66US airmail.
WA residents add sales tax.
MAGAZINE
April 2000
Editor-In-Chief
Publisher
Tom Hamilton
Contributing Editors
Ron Behrmann, George Denniston,
Greg Livadas, Mike Rose, Peter Stekel
Columnists
Don Piccard
Staff Photographer
Ron Behrmann
John Fanning, LarryNelson
Lex Nichols, Harlan TenNaper
Daniel Yee, StevenVlegels
2336 47th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 9811 6
Fax: 206-935-3326
e-mail: tom@balloonlife.com
Internet: http://balloonlife.com/
Phone: 206-935-3649
Buyer’s Guide
In this issue we present our fifteenth annual balloon buyer’s guide. Whether you are
looking for a “store bought” balloon or fancy tackling at least some of the construction
yourself, our survey offers the only guide to new balloons offered in the U.S. Beginning
on page 20 you will find listing of current prices, product descriptions, and some history
for 14 companies.
TheBalloon Life guide isthe mostcomplete, independentlyproducedlistingof
balloons and their manufacturers anywhere in the world. Through the years our purpose
with this guide has never changed, namely to provide the prospective balloon buyer with
auniqueopportunitytocomparethebrands,makes,models,prices,optionsand
philosophiesof every U.S. type-certifiedballoon manufacturer ata single glance.
BelowisachartofnewballoonsalesintheU.S.overthelastfiveyears.The
information is from FAA registration information. The registration number for 1999 is
suppliedtoBalloon Life byCameronBalloonsUS. New balloonregistrationfigures
were derivedfrom originalraw data ontotal balloons registered in the U.S.
New Hot Air Balloon
Registrations in the U.S.
