Ballooning > Pilot and Crew > Resources

• Crewing on a Hot Air Balloon Team - Questions and answers, learn what's involved in crewing, also provides guidance and support for existing crew members. Lots of detail not found elsewhere!
  
   
• Hot Air Balloon Crewing 101 - Complete guide to crewing hot air balloons by pilot Dean Carlton. The page includes all aspects of crewing from set up, chasing, landing to landowners relations. Detailed instructions for each role the crew plays.
  
   
• Remote Automated Weather Sensor Tutorial - There's a giant network of government weather stations out there that aren't part of the aviation system. This brief online course tells how to find and use their data online. Free course narrated by Bill Hughes of Liberty Balloon School.
  
   
• Balloon Quotations - A very literary collection of quotes.
  
   
• Sunrise Sunset Calculator by NOAA - Online service determines sunrise and sunset for anywhere in the world for any date in both local time and UTC. Be sure to check the daylight savings box if desired. Can use nearest city or latitude and longtitude. Links to look up lat/long from zipcodes.
  
   
• Crewing on a Hot Air Balloon Team - A primer on what a balloon crew does, and how to handle each situation that's likely to arise. Crew How-To.
  
   
• DeLorme State Atlas & Gazetteer - Large mapbooks cover an entire state with topographical maps well suited to use while flying. Ideal for use by pilot and crew. Available for all 50 states. Samples online.
  
   
• Crew Training Files - Series of crew training articles by Mike Rose in .pdf format. Originally published in Balloon Life Magazine. Highly recommended.
  
   
• FAA Online Services - Official US government site to change your address as a pilot, order a replacement pilot certificate (or temporary certificate), or have your social security number removed.
  
   
• Hot Air Balloon Review: Getting Good Inflight Photos - Sharp inflight photos are used by balloon ride operators to convey the astonishing position a flight actually puts people in. Here's how it's done, with details of the rigging and sample photos.
  
   
• Hot Air Balloon Simulator - Keep in shape and maintain your flying feeling and reflexes when the real thing is not available. Time, space and weather no longer limit ballooning because the Simulator is always flyable.
  
   
• N-Number Inquiry - Look up service for US registered aircraft. Enter the N-number (registration number) and see details on who owns it. Or, enter a name and see which balloons they own.
  
   
• Pibal Ascent Rates - Pibals are small (toy) balloons that pilots use to help assess the winds aloft. Depending on the weight of the balloon and its inflated diameter you can calculate how fast it will climb with this chart.
  
   
• Reporting An Accident to the NTSB - Federal regulations require operators to notify the NTSB immediately of aviation accidents and certain incidents. Here's the how to instructions and downloadable reporting forms.
  
   
• ballooningmail.com - Free web based e-mail for balloonists! Sign up today for your free BallooningMail.com e-mail account and use your mail from any computer. From Launch.net.
  
   
• Hot Air Balloon Simulator - This virtual reality project at the University of Michigan is still under construction, but you can learn about it here.
  
   
• The Internet Ballooning Database: Chase Crew - A collection of chase crew available to help all over the world, organized by region.
  
   
• The Internet Ballooning Database: Pilots - The gateway to the world's hot air balloon pilots' names, e-mail addresses/phone numbers, their balloon's names and much more.
  
   
• Tethered vs. Moored Balloons - August 1996 Balloon Life article that states that a hot air balloon may NOT be operated under part 101 (moored balloons).
  
   
• AEROSTATI.IT - italian ballooning website - All about ballooning in Italy, with events, weather, learning to fly, photos, and lots of information. Written in Italian.