Frequently Asked Questions !

Obviously, knowing who will guide your flight as well as understanding his skills, offer the best guarantees of a serene and exciting flight. Your pilot will be either Stéphane Bolze or François Messines (see pilot sheets).

In addition, both have vivid stories to tell should you ask them …

Having sailed the skies of Touraine for almost 30 years, they will help you discover its majestic castles as well as unusual places that will fill your eyes and your cameras with fantastic memories.

Naturally, the most requested sites are the Loire castles: Chenonceau, Amboise or Chaumont. But if you wish, we can also take off from your home or near it or from a specific place that is dear to you (see conditions).

Hot-air ballooning is always practiced during periods of calm aerology, with little wind (less than 15 km / h on take-off), without thermal ascents and therefore at dawn or at the end of the day. Flights last about 1 hour, but the time required for the whole activity is 3 hours (reception, preparation of the balloon, flight, folding of the balloon, champagne on the nacelle – it’s a tradition – and return to the meeting place in our 4 × 4 vehicle.

Take-off times vary as months go by :

January  : 9h00 am –3h00 pm
February  : 8h30 am –3h00 pm
March : 7h30 am – 5h00 pm
April : 7h00 am – 6h00 pm
May : 6h00 am – 7h00 pm
June : 6h00 am – 7h30 pm
July : 6h00 am – 7h30 pm
August : 6h30 am – 6h30 pm
September : 7h00 am – 6h00 pm
October : 8h00 am – 4h30 pm
November : 8h00 am – 3h30 pm
December : 8h30 am – 2h30 pm

Sportswear is recommended, jeans, sneakers and a cotton jacket are perfect. Please note that heeled shoes are strictly prohibited for safety reasons.

Temperatures will be similar as on the ground because we will not reach very high altitudes for they add nothing in terms of sensation or vision.

At first, we will fly at low altitudes so that you may accustom yourselves with the flight itself. Then, depending on how you feel we may climb as high as 1000m. However, the most pleasant altitude for observation is around 300m. During the landing phase, as a bird, we might be able to touch the top of the trees!

No, you will not experience vertigo. This unpleasant sensation only appears when one is connected to the ground. That is when one can visually measure the distance which separates him from the ground. Onboard a plane, for instance, when looking through the porthole even at a 10,000 meter altitude, vertigo does not occur.

A balloon competition is a regatta, comparable to sailing, except that speed is replaced by precision. Since a ballon flies exclusively following the direction of the wind it is impossible to guide it within the space where it lies. At varying altitudes, winds usually diverge and to very different directions at times. The subtlety of competitive flying consists in using these different altitudes to find the winds that will allow the pilot and his crew to drop a marker (small ballast with a ribbon) as close to the center of a 10x10m cross target placed on a field. The results are sometimes astonishing as one can land a marker a few centimeters from the center of the target after having taken off several kilometers away. Several combinations of competitions are possible to combine in a flight.

At the mercy of the winds and thanks to their maneuvering expertise and finesse acquired through competition, Stephane and François will fly you over the site of your choice.

Warning! Stéphane or François will be unstoppable with explanations and other anecdotes should you engage them on the subject!

We also offer an exceptional experience: Flying at night!

Night flight Certified, Stéphane will give you an appointment for takeoff 1 hour before sunrise. The nocturnal ascent is as beautiful as it is impressive. At about 800m, you will witness the sun rising slowly while it is still dark under the nacelle … Following this extraordinary vision, you will begin a descent towards the darkness (to a 400m altitude) to see the sun rise a second time shortly thereafter… Experiencing sunrise twice within a few minutes will forever be engraved in your memory. After about 2 hours of flight, we will wait for the complete sunrise to land and have a delicious breakfast on the nacelle.

Book a Night Flight package