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By Kirsty, September 7, 2011 12:28 pm

Joe Churcher, 39, from London, was on route to catch a train home on Friday evening when this spectacular sight caught his eye, a Virgin hot air balloon.

“I was alerted, by a crowd of
animatedly pointing tourists stood
outside a shop, to  the presence of an aerial attraction. Looking up to see the balloon making its majestic way over Oxford’s spires, I reached for my camera and took some shots of its voyage using Oxford Castle as the foreground. As it disappeared behind the battlements I was about to head off to the station when it occurred to me that it was about to reappear between the crenellations so I hung on and snapped it,” said Joe.

Joe, who works as a political journalist, enjoyed his very own airborne adventure a few years ago with his father. Whilst gliding above the Hampshire countryside, Joe also snapped this picture below.

“The contrasts of immense peace
and intense burner noise, the views, the  nervous excitement at being able to see exactly what it is that’s holding you in the air. On the flight I took a bird’s eye view of the Hampshire farm we had recently discovered had been worked by our ancestors – as well as Roman Abramovich’s half-constructed mansion!”

For further information about flying from Oxford please visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk or call 01952 212750.

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By Kirsty, August 15, 2011 3:58 pm

Last week we blogged about our Warwickshire launch site Stratford–upon-Avon and the splendid scenery from the launch field of Stratford Racecourse.

As if by magic, our lovely pilot Des Bimson flew from the racecourse and caught the beauty of the bird’s eye view on his camera just days later. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to share these scenic snaps with you.

Des also shared with us his in-flight photographs from an Eastnor Castle launch this week too. This spectacular launch site sits at the foot of the Malverns (a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in the historic town of Ledbury, Herefordshire.

You too can fly from Stratford Racecourse or Eastnor Castle from as little as £119 per person. Simply call or visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk.

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By Kirsty, July 5, 2011 10:32 am

33 year old Mani Manota of Leeds, Yorkshire, yesterday popped the all important question to long-term girlfriend Maria,25, at 1200ft above York!

The happy couple who met six years ago whilst working in a bar had both talked about the prospect of marriage but Maria had no idea what Mani had planned.

“I thought about Paris and the Eiffel tower but everyone seemed to have done that and for some reason it seemed too cheesy. I was nervous about the whole thing and having one date cancelled due to weather I was nervous right up until the night before when the message from pilot Dave Sutcliffe said the flight was going ahead, no turning back now!

Maria didn’t know anything about the Balloon ride. I asked her to wear warm but clothes she wouldn’t mind getting dirty, she assumed I was going to take her horse riding or visiting a farm, she had no idea until we turned up at York Racecourse and I pointed out the baskets. Much to my relief she was ecstatic at the prospect of going up in a hot air balloon, a first for us both,” said Mani.

At 1200ft the moment Mani had been waiting for arrived and as Maria turned away he dropped to one knee! Of course, she said yes and they celebrated with a traditional Champagne toast after landing.

“The flight was brilliant, very peaceful up in the air with no engine noise letting just the wind direct us, we had brilliant views over York, we could see for miles.  We both liked the fact we were involved in everything from getting the balloon off the trailer to the inflation and then helping to get it deflated too. The overall experience was brilliant and would recommend it to anyone. I’m glad I chose Virgin.”

Congratulations to you both! The team at Virgin Balloon Flights wish you the very best for your wedding and future life together.

For information regarding hot air balloon ride launch sites and prices simply visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk or call 01952 212750.

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By Kirsty, July 4, 2011 4:10 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights pilot, Martin Collinson gave his chief crew member Neil Marshall the picture perfect opportunity to capture these fantastic photographs this morning after an early morning flight that ‘floated’ over Rutland Water lake.

‘The Great Tower’, a monumental sculpture created by Alexander in 1980, stands at the edge of the 3’100 acre manmade lake, which is the largest reservoir of its kind in Western Europe.

Neil grabbed the chance to whip out his camera and capturing these super snaps before pilot Martin landed the balloon just outside the Rutland Water butterfly farm.

Details on hot air balloon flights from Rutland Water can be found at virginballoonflights.co.uk. To book simply call 01952 212750.

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By Kirsty, July 4, 2011 12:13 pm

An unusual request from Virgin Balloon Flights HQ here in Shropshire this afternoon … we are looking  for any passengers who flew on the 3^rd of July 2006 in one of our lovely hot air balloons from our Sywell Aerodrome launch site in Northampton.

Whatever for, I hear you say! Well, at the end of May this year we received a lovely letter from a gentleman (Mr Davies) who lives in Northampton, who had recently bought a ‘fairly old’ digital camera from a local charity shop.

The camera, to his surprise, still contained a memory card. After scanning the photographs Mr Davies was keen to find the owner to return their pictures. Now here is the link… the  photographs on the memory card were predominantly of a hot air balloon ride with Virgin Balloon Flights on the 3^rd of July in 2006.

Amongst the balloon ride images there are also pictures of family members, a dog and lots of cactus and tomato plants, the camera is a Pentax Optio 330RS.

Are these your photographs? If so, drop us a line at  marketing@virginballoonflights.co.uk or give us a call on 01952 212750

Let’s hope we find the owner!

You too can fly from Sywell Aerodrome from as little as £109pp, simply visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk.

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By Kirsty, June 15, 2011 2:30 pm

28 year old IT guy James Pardon, from Alweston near Sherborne, was on his way home work when he spotted one of our lovely Virgin balloons being inflated ready for lift off at our Sherborne launch site.

“I think the Balloons are great, we often see them going overhead and it must be such a nice and unique way of seeing the local area. It still amazes me it’s just hot air keeping it up.

I’ve never flown in a Balloon but it’s something myself and my wife have on our to-do list.

That’s the first time I’ve photographed a Balloon, it was only by chance I saw it. I took quite a few but as soon as it was off the ground it disappeared pretty quickly. It’s amazing how far they can travel with just the wind,” said James.

James and his brother Richard have recently started a wedding photography business and you can see some more of James’ awesome snaps on his flicker page: flickr.com/photos/pardonator

Thanks for the super photograph, definitely one of our favourites!

You too can fly from Sherborne with our pilot Simon Redman from as little as £109pp!

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By Kirsty, June 15, 2011 1:43 pm

A few gorgeous photographs from a flight with pilot Martin Collinson that launched from our Wollaton Park launch site Nottingham. Taking off at 8pm and travelling north east for just short of an hour over the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepoint.

On the same flight lucky passengers flew over the River Trent, the Nottingham County Cricket Ground and Nottingham Forrest Football Club, what a busy flight!

You too can fly from Woolaton Park from as little as £109pp. See you in the sky!

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By Alex, April 17, 2011 5:32 pm

In our tethered Virgin balloons we had a great vantage point to watch the start of the Virgin London Marathon 2011.

As last year it was amazing to see so many people running for good causes. As if running the 26.2 miles isn’t enough, lots of competitors choose to make it even tougher by wearing weird and wonderful costumes.

So, we thought it was only fair to share a few and we’ve come up with our top five. Congratulations to the winners and we hope you’ve got round the course okay…

5. Pingu

4. Dino the Dinosaur

3. Eye of the Tiger

2. Number 9 to the Mall

1. Runaway Rhino

We also have to give a special mention to…

The snail – one of the last to start, seemingly with someone crawling along under the costume with the aim of finishing the race in 26 days! Good luck guys.

Congratulations to all the runners and especially those who went to town with their outfits. We salute you.

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By Eve, December 20, 2010 10:49 am

The 2010 hot air ballooning flying season drew to a close last month. But whilst you may not be able to spot our balloons in the sky, there are plenty to look at online. Here at Virgin Balloon Flights HQ, around this time of year it is time to don our judging caps and review the whole year’s worth of photos that have been shared with us online over the year by passengers and balloon spotters alike.

This year we had many that were of a very high standard and we thoroughly enjoyed looking at each and every entry.

From balloons being inflated, to passengers helping to pack away the balloon, to atmospheric mist on an early morning flight to the sun bursting from behind the clouds; we recommend a peruse at your leisure of the wonderful online collection.

But as with all competitions someone has to win. This year the photo deemed the winner by the majority was Jade Homer’s photo taken from Headcorn Aerodrome:-

Jade Homer's winning photo taken from Headcorn Aerodrome

Jade said:

I thought that this photo would be good to take because with sun setting in the background it looks nice and shows a nice spring afternoon.

I like taking pictures of something you don’t see every day. I often get down to Headcorn Aerodrome on a Sunday afternoon in the spring and summer… watching all the hot air balloons come and set up. I am amazed by how it is all put together… when you’re watching it fade away as it goes further and further away and you think ‘I wonder were that will end up landing’.

Out of all the places in the world to fly over in a hot air balloon, Jade thinks that the best place would definitely be Niagara Falls. We’re not sure we’d get a licence for that but agree it sounds pretty cool!

Congratulations and we hope you enjoy your prize of a Virgin Experience Days gift card.

To share your photos with us you can upload them to our Twitter page, our Facebook page or on YouTube.

You can find more information on our Competitions tab on our Facebook page.