I am sure you have seen cartoons -- when you were a kid -- where the characters were lifted off into the sky while holding on to a couple of balloons. Do you know that this can be achieved in reality on humans too? Yes, and it is considered an extreme sport.That's the idea behind cluster ballooning. The pilot wears a harness, to which a cluster of large, helium-filled balloons are attached. Control is achieved by releasing ballast to ascend, or by bursting balloons to descend.
Cluster balloons, like all balloons, are aircraft that require skill and training to operate safely. Before I began flying cluster balloons, I was an FAA-licensed hot-air balloon pilot and had over four-hundred hours of pilot time in conventional hot-air balloons and Cloudhoppers. These skills are not rocket science, but they are not something you're going to figure out on your first flight while you're drifting toward the high tension lines and imminent crispy-critterhood! Fly safely!
You can find more information on cluster ballooning after the jump.
Link & Image: Cluster Ballooning via Neatorama
Tags: Sport | Extreme | Cluster Ballooning | Balloon
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