April 2000
Balloons Sold
Cameron Holdings, parent company
ofCameronBallo ons,pu rchasedSky
BalloonsInternational.“Cameronplans
to run Sky as a separate company, retain-
inglow price direct sales, mainlyvia the
World WideWeb,” said Cameron spokes-
man, Alan Noble. “In future Sky will only
manufacture envelopes.You can choose a
bottom end from any other supplier. The
advertised priceis the buying price. There
willbe nofurther discounts.”
According to Noble, Sky has lost, on
average,approximatelytwothousand
pounds [Sterling] every week since it was
started. Cameron is the fourthinvestor in
seven years and was approached by Jumbo
International, owners of Sky for just nine
months.
“Sky envelopes have not in the past,
and will not in the future, be built from the
same high quality fabric that is only avail-
able to Cameron/T&C,” said Noble. “But
the build quality will be good and Sky will
have a solidfuture.”
FormoreinformationcontactSky
BalloonInternationalLtd.,Redwither
Tower, Wrexham Industrial Estate, North
Wales ,LL1 39XT,UK,
www.skyballoons.co.uk
AerostarInternational in conjunction
with the Sioux Falls Balloon Association
are proud to announce the formulation of
thefirstever,man ufacturer’sballoon
camp. Camp dates are June 7-11, 2000 in
Sioux Falls, SouthDakota.
Camperswillarrive on Wednesday,
June7forareceptionintheevening
between members of the Sioux Falls Bal-
loonAssociationandAerostarstaff. On
ThursdayandFriday, campers willlearn
theintricatedetailsof balloonmanufac-
turingfrombasketweavingtoquality
control, from burnerbuilding to test infla-
tions.Fridayeveningmarksthebegin-
ningof the 25thannual Great Plains Bal-
loonRace.Camperswillbeinvitedto
participate in the race and will be assigned
to a participating balloonist to see howthe
manufacturing process culminates and re-
latestofreeflight.Thecampendson
Sundaywherethecamperswillbethe
guest of honors at the awards banquet for
the Great Plains Balloon Race.
To beconsidered for the camp, Camp-
ers will be askedtosubmit a 100 word or
essayon“Whyballoonclubsare
importanttothefutureofballooning.”
The top7essayswillbeeligibletostay
withahostfamilyandmembersofthe
Sioux Falls Balloon Association in Sioux
Falls.Allother entriesare invitedtoat-
tend the camp at their own hotel expense.
Travel expenses will be the responsibility
of thecampers.There isnocostfor the
actual camp. Essays must be submitted to
Aerostar no laterthan May 1, and winners
willbe notified byMay15, 2000.
Campersmustbe a BFA Junior bal-
loonist and be between the ages of 10-17.
Parentsarewelcometoattendwiththe
campers,however,hostfamilieshave
room for only campers.Campersshould
submit their essaysalong with name, ad-
dress,phonenumberandnumber ofat-
tendees to:
Aerostar International, Balloon Camp
Essay,P.O.Box5057,SiouxFalls,SD
57110-5057
BertrandPiccardandBrianJones
have beennamedthe 2000recipientsof
theAero Clubof New England’spresti-
giousGodfreyL.CabotAward.Flying
theBreitlingOrbiter 3, the twosuccess-
fully completed the first round-the-world
balloon flight.The flightbeganinSwit-
zerlandonMarch1, 1999,andendedin
Egypt on March 21. Total flight time was
19 days, 21 hours, and47 minutes. Brian
Jones will be in Boston on June 2, 2000 to
acceptthe award.
The Boston-area based Aero Club of
New England is the oldest aero club in the
UnitedStates,havingbeenfoundedby
gas balloonists in 1902. TheCabot Award,
named for the founder of the Aero Club of
NewEnglandandfirstAmericanpresi-
dentof the FédérationAéronautiqueIn-
ternationale, is awarded annually to indi-
viduals or teams whohave made unique,
significant, and unparalleled contributions
tofoster,encourage,andadvanceavia-
tionand space flight.
Lastyear’sCabotAwardrecipient
was Ed Yost, inventor of the modern hot
air balloon, makingthisyear’spresenta-
tionthefirsttimeinthehistoryofthe
awardthat it. The formal presentation of
the award will be at a luncheon to be held
attheHyattHarborsid ead jacentto
Boston’sLoganAirportonFriday, June
2, 2000.Anyoneinterestedinattending
mation to James E. Ellis at 978 772-3712
or con ta ct hi m by e-mai l at
jeellis@pvainc.net.
Delegatesfromtwenty-ninecoun-
triesmetinThessaloniki,Greecefrom
March 1-4 to work on an agenda covering
many aspects of international ballooning.
Theconferencerecognizedb allooning
achievements,approvedrulechang es,
reviewedthe work of technical subcom-
mittees,sanctionedeventsandmade
progress inpromoting ballooning in sev-
eral area.
The non-stop around-the-world bal-
loon flight by Bertrand Piccard and Brian
Jones was acknowledged by awarding the
prestigious Montgolfier Diploma for the
best achievement in thecategory ofRozier
Balloontothese pilots.
Germanpilot,UweSchneider,was
awarded the Montgolfier Diploma for the
best sporting performance in the previous
year.RichardAbruzzoandDr.Carol
Rymer Davis from theUnited States,were
acknowledgedfor their impressive flight
in a gas balloon from Denver Colorado to
East Wales,Maine and received the Mont-
golfierDiplomaforBestPerformance
GasBalloon.MasashiKakudafromJa-
pan,aneventorganizer,officialandac-
tivemember oftheCIA Subcommittees
also receiveda Montgolfier Diploma, for
hismajorcontributiontothesportof
ballooning.
Officers re-elected wereJean-Claude
Weber retaining his position as President,
Neil Robertson Secretary and Vice Presi-
dents Markus Haggeney, Hans Akerstedt,
Jakob Burkardto serve for another year.
ThePublicRelationsandDevelopment
Subcommittee hasa new chairpersonin
PatBrakefromtheUnitedStates.The
committee is focusing this year on a num-
ber of media andpublic relationsefforts
includingfindinginterestedandskilled
individualstohelpintheworldwide
promotionof the sportof ballooning.
Inanunrelatedannouncementthe
FAI received distance and duration record
claims from Kevin Uliassi, USA, from his
recentarou nd-the-worldattemptina
Roziere balloon.Uliassi’s claimsare for
AM-12 distance of20,455 kilometers and
AM-13&14 duration of 243 hours 47 min-
utes.
