Floating towards the clouds may be relaxing for some but for others, it is serious business. Four Canberrans have packed up their baskets and balloons and travelled to Western Australia for the National Ballooning Championships on 8-13 May.

Hosted in Northam, the championships haven’t run for the past few years due to the pandemic, but the competitors are keen to rise again. A scheduled two flights a day, weather permitting, will put the balloon pilots’ navigational skills to the test with obstacles and time limits in place.

Among the balloon pilots is retiree Geoffrey Howe, who, at 80 years of age, is the oldest competitor in this year’s event. Coming to the sport later in life, Mr Howe has had a lifelong interest in all things aircraft and aeronautical, but he says marriage, work, and family kept him too busy to pursue any kind of vessel of his own. That was until the 1990s when he started going up in hot air balloons with people in Canberra.

“We got involved with them and I thought ‘Well, this is really something! I think I might take it up’ – and it also involves the family and friends as well,” he says.

The social component is one of the perks of ballooning, Mr Howe being what is known as a “pleasure cruiser”. He says most of the others in the competition, particularly the younger demographic, command what is known as a racer, which are smaller and faster than the balloons Mr Howe flies.

“As you get a little bit older you say ‘Well, I’ve done that, I’ll leave it to the younger people’. I don’t have a balloon that is competitive as these people, there’s different balloons to do different jobs,” he says.

From streamers to technology-based marks, the competition has evolved over the years, though Mr Howe prefers to fly without too many digital aids.

“They have various competition maps and procedures on board which assist you. If you’re competing a lot, you need that, but since I don’t compete a lot, I do use my iPad which has a hot air app on it. But generally, I use the compass and bearings and GPS and so forth,” he says.

Nowadays, he says, race officials can use GPS and other technology taken on board to see how long you have stayed inside a zone, whether you knocked a tree, and what route you took. An official used to accompany competitors to check these things, whereas now they can focus on the preparations. The targets for the day depend entirely on the weather, and just one flight could include three to six goals.

“The morning starts off before dawn when the meteorologist goes out and gets the weather that time of the morning. He will work with the director of the competition to set out the task for the morning,” Mr Howe says.

Tasks include what he refers to as the Christmas cake; a shape resembling the festive treat is outlined for pilots to gain points for staying within the bounds.

Not being overly competitive, he isn’t too concerned about racking up points; rather, he enjoys the experience, the challenge, and completing the tasks with limited technological input.

With a love of flight flowing through his veins, Mr Howe is just as keen to take the floating basket up with his family friends, and sometimes his wife Vida.

“We don’t fly very often together. She used to say, ‘Every time I come up with you, Geoff, we have a fast landing’ and I said, ‘Well that isn’t quite correct’ but I’ve got to believe her because what she says is true,” he smiles.

Find out more about the National Ballooning Championships at northamballooningevents.com

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