A MONTH IN THE LIFE OF…

This month, Dr Allie Dunnington prepares to take to the skies for Britain’s biggest ballooning fiesta – and she wants more women to join her

Hot air balloon pilot

Dr Allie Dunnington

I first stepped into a balloon basket 20 years ago. At the time, I was working as a tour guide in Burma and my guests booked a flight. As it happens, it wasn’t just hot air ballooning I fell in love with that day – I also fell for Phil, the man piloting the balloon. We’ve been married now for 17 years!

I’ve never liked flying in aeroplanes – turbulence frightens me. But flying a balloon feels totally different: it’s completely smooth because you’re going with the wind. When I met Phil, he ran his own ballooning company called Gone with the Wind, so I joined him. It’s been going for 35 years and together we give ballooningrelated advice in places such as Chile, India and Ethiopia.

This month’s all about the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. The event is attended by half a million people and is the largest annual meeting of hot air balloons in Europe, running since 1979. Around 130 balloonists from all over the world gather at a country estate outside the city and the balloons are launched over a four-day period. It’s an amazing sight: the skies over Bristol fill with balloons.

During the Fiesta, days begin at 5.30am. We take off in the early morning as the sun rises and fly for around an hour. Launching in such a crowded space is exhilarating but challenging. We pilots have to concentrate.

You can’t steer a balloon other than up and down. The rest really is up to the wind. But there are rights of way in the air: you can’t see a balloon if it’s directly above you, so the upper balloon has to watch out for the lower one. I ask the passengers to keep an eye out to make sure no one’s whizzing up from below.

I carry a bottle of whisky with me. It’s important to have a thank-you present to give to whoever’s field you land in! When I’m in the air, a ‘ground crew’ with a car and trailer follows me from below. Using a walkie-talkie, I’ll tell them where I might land and they’ll track down the farmer to ask permission. Thankfully, most are very welcoming.

Often the guests I fly with feel nervous at first, but they soon relax when they realise how smooth flying in a balloon feels. During the Fiesta, I might take local VIPS, sponsors or up to 16 paying customers. Over the four days, I might fly up to seven times if we’re lucky with the weather.

The evenings are spectacular. There will be another mass launch at 6pm. Then, once it’s dark, 25 balloons turn into huge lightbulbs, using their burners to make them glow in time to music. The day finishes with a big fireworks display.

My mission is to encourage more women to fly. I’ve ballooned in 103 countries – including Libya, Cuba and Fiji – which is the women’s record. The first time I visited the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, only four out of 130 pilots were women. Things are changing, though. I’m the first ever female ballooning examiner in the UK and half of the 60 students currently in training are women. I love teaching people such a life-changing skill. Ballooning helps you to see the world from a new perspective. Once you’ve felt that high, you’ll be chasing it for the rest of your life.