Closing date for the October 2026 issue (No 474) is 28th September 2026
Latest Issue
Issue 473: September 2026
A number of sales have been reported during August including Phil Davies’ G-BRGD, several groups of tanks and a burner frame. Whilst we have not heard from Mark Macleod we have learnt of all the major items from G-CIUB being sold and the envelope registered by a new owner, so have taken it off the List – a reminder to drop us a line when you sell something so that the Zebedee List remains up to date.
New for September is a newly certified 2007 built Ultramagic T.150 with artwork now removed and only 129 hours from Zebedee. Also new to these pages a complete Cameron V-77 in Italy plus a trailer from Simone Lanzoni. Also major price reductions from Geoff Westley for his two early 1980s envelopes. Read the full story in Stop Press!
Recent events have been dominated by a very successful Bristol Balloon Fiesta with huge crowds and full car parks enjoying good weather and all slots flown. Many new balloons from both Cameron and Diamond appeared, the star being a massive Cameron Suitcase special shape sponsored by “send my bag.com”. Despite the tinder dry ground conditions there were no reported incidents over the weekend. Next event Longleat 11th to 13th.
Last but not least, many congratulations to our two brave GB teams in this years Gordon Bennett Race. Colin & Ann landed in Poland after travelling 1084km in just over 32 hours coming 15th overall with Debbie & Tom making it to Lithuania after 1191km in the same time and coming 11th. A brilliant effort by both teams in a field of 24 gas balloons. Well done indeed!
Time for bed said Zebedee!
For several months we have been contemplating the future for our business, as has Chris Dunkley at Easy Balloons. Don’t panic! No immediate changes are planned, but being realistic the next few years will see us winding down and we thought we should spell out some timely truths and maybe encourage some youngsters into balloon maintenance & repair.
We have written a joint statement which we hope will trigger both business enterprise and some thoughts as to how you can ease the pain of your next repair …..
Scam Warning
WARNING!
We have been alerted by two of our advertisers to a scam which is currently doing the rounds. In each case the potential buyer agrees to buy an item and then sends a cheque in payment. However the cheque is for more than the asking price of the item. The ‘buyer’ then asks the seller to refund the difference. Because it sometimes takes a week or more for the bank to process a cheque, it can be some time before the seller realises the cheque has bounced.
We have heard of 4 advertisers who have received enquiries in the past week for equipment. They all involve a complicated routine involving (international) cheques and the fact that the enquirer is on honeymoon… beware !