Update: Please note that we no longer fly from this site. To view our current launch site listing please click here.

28-year-old IT guy James Pardon, from Alweston near Sherborne, was on his way home from 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 £169pp!