Back when I was a kid, I remember there used to be hot air balloons in the sky. Some days there was just one, and other days there were 2 or 3. I also recall days when the sky was filled with them.
Nowadays, I never see any. What happened to them?
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I rented a helium tank in the summer, and the guy said that a lot of places aren't selling helium right now because there's a global shortage. Not sure how true that is...
That is a good point, I forgot about all those balloons! Thinking back there used to be days when there was more then just 2 or 3, I remember 5-6 in the air at once a few times. But that has to be almost 20 years ago now.
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I rented a helium tank in the summer, and the guy said that a lot of places aren't selling helium right now because there's a global shortage. Not sure how true that is...
Well helium is a non renewable resource. but ummm i don't think they use helium for these balloons! hahhaa
I rented a helium tank in the summer, and the guy said that a lot of places aren't selling helium right now because there's a global shortage. Not sure how true that is...
It is true. A lot of the new advances in medical imaging require a lot of super cooling and helium is the safest way to do that. Additionally there is a lot of newer industrial uses. The demand is growing and the supply is relatively fixed. So even though helium is something like the second most common element in the universe, gathering it here on earth is somewhat problematic as it tends to float away.
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Masses of hot air balloons used to crowd Calgary's skies with their colourful designs, shapes, slogans and logos, but where have they all gone? Some of Calgary's few remaining hot air balloon pilots fill us in on why ballooning is a "dying sport" and why we should care.
"When ballooning first came to Calgary area in the mid-70s, I mean it was the rage," says hot air balloon pilot Brant Leatherdale.
Peaking in popularity around the mid-1980s, Calgarians could often tilt their gazes skyward on clear, sunny days and spot giant custom-made balloons, such as a grinning Shell gas pump or a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, drifting high above the city. However, as Calgary's expanding city limits made it increasingly difficult to safely traverse and more restrictive regulations and red tape were introduced, fewer and fewer people took up the sport.
"I don’t like this phrase but it’s true, it's really a dying sport," says Leatherdale.
They used to have a big race every day during Stampede, but I believe the Dairy Queen ice cream cone balloon crashed into some power lines one day, and the city cracked down on the regulations.
When I was a kid, I lived across the street from a big green space park, and we'd usually get a balloon land there at least once a year.
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I rented a helium tank in the summer, and the guy said that a lot of places aren't selling helium right now because there's a global shortage. Not sure how true that is...
It's true, Nebraska football used to have fans release a ton of balloons after the first touchdown and had to cut back this season. That said, I'm pretty sure hot air balloons work by heating air, not using helium.
I live in St. Albert and pretty much any calm early evening from May-September I see a bunch of em going right over my house, they're so close you can hear them pumping more air or fire or whatever that sound is. So relaxing sitting on the deck after dinner seeing those go by. Haven't lived in Calgary in 8 years now, didn't realize it had fallen out of favour there..
Saw a cool one in August whose design just made it look like hundreds of normal-sized balloons tied together, looks really cool from the ground.
What Happened To All The Hot Air Balloons??
