Closing date for the July 2026 issue (No 471) is 28th June 2026
Latest Issue
Issue 470: June 2026
Roy Battersby reports the sale of his Ultramagic M-56 during May whilst Richard Parry tells us that a collector has snapped up 1983 Cameron O-65 G-SMIG, once part of the wide ranging collection of sponsored balloons operated during the ‘glory days’ of the energetic members of the Hong Kong Balloon and Airship Club.
Rob Jemmett’s Cameron basket moves over from ‘Stop Press’ for June and a new ad for G-TIBF a Kubicek BB34Z from Geoff Lescott. Lawrie Ellis’s Yaesu radio and instruments sold immediately after featuring in ‘Stop Press’ on our website homepage!
Once again we have to congratulate James Macdonald and his team for a super Midlands Air Festival at Ragley Hall at the end of May. The Saturday morning ‘bimble’ around the park as part of 126 balloons flying in calm, sunny conditions was truly magic. Balloons flew on 4 occasions with only the Sunday spoilt by the return of windy, then wet weather for June ….
Bad news from Italy is that Paolo Bonanno sadly had a fire recently in his Famous workshop where so many envelopes, burners, quick releases and other high quality ballooning equipment has been produced over the years. The fire was caused by a sizeable ‘on charge’ lithium-ion battery – so powerful and widely used in the modern world, but so potentially dangerous when charged, particularly indoors and out of sight. Beware !
Last but certainly not least, many congratulations to the three pilots of the Atlantic Explorer balloon who made a perfect landing in Luxembourg yesterday morning after their epic crossing of the Atlantic in an open basket in record time. 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 !