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Western Region British Balloon & Airship Club

The organisation for balloonists in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, West Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, South Wales and areas beyond.

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Two hot air balloons on the ground at the Bristol baloon fiesta with a third one in the air

Getting involved

Not all members of Western Region are pilots — In fact pilots would have a hard time ballooning without a dedicated crew to help inflate the balloon, follow in the retrieve vehicle and help pack and recover the balloon after landing.

Western Region is a Club for balloonists, not a balloon club. It provides many services and benefits to its pilot and non-pilot members. See the benefits below.

Services and benefits

  1. Monthly meetings with talks from famous balloonists, educational topics such as meteorology, fun events such as quizzes and the famous Western Region Auction
  2. A variety of flying events each month from May to September from different locations around the region
  3. The opportunity for new members to introduce themselves to active balloonists and perhaps join their balloon teams
  4. Privileged access to Bristol Airport controlled airspace only available to WRBBAC members
  5. The Western Region Met-Line – a recorded weather forecast for balloonists
  6. Training courses: Private pilots licence ground school, crew training, radio telephony training, landowner relations awareness training
  7. Bi-monthly newsletter “Hotline”, with all the Club news and dates for your diary
  8. Committee officers look after landowner relations, liaison with air traffic control and links with the local councils, on behalf of Western Region members
  9. The Annual “Montgolfier Dinner”
  10. Use of City parks in Bristol and Bath for balloon launches are available exclusively for WRBBAC members
  11. Western Region Website — all you need to know about flying in the West, and a lot more too!
  12. A vast amount of unseen work done by the committee in landowner relations, liaison with the BBAC, air traffic control and other bodies