Long View Ballooning:

              

                                

 Welcome to the web site of the

Long View Ballooning

Irregularly scheduled Lighter than Airlines,

 

Where the destination doesn’t matter, because getting there is all the fun

 

Long View Ballooning flies (mostly) in the beautiful Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts where your flight is like a silent nature walk. Floating peacefully above the trees affords a view of the world around us unseen from any other perspective.

 

Try this: Lean back in your chair, close your eyes and travel back in your mind to the time of your youth. Remember laying on the ground, in your back yard, gazing into the air, watching a hawk soar effortlessly overhead and wondering what it would be like to have such freedom, to live on the wings of the wind, and to gaze down at the large expanse of the world below. That, my friend, begins to describe the sensation of ballooning.

 

            If you can still remember those daydreams of your youth; if there’s anything left of that spark of curiosity, rekindle that spark with a hot air balloon flight in the Long View Balloon. You’ll be amazed as the world slips by beneath you. It’s almost surreal. You move with the wind, there’s no real sensation of movement and no wind in the basket, just peace and tranquility.

 

Morning Flight: Greet the rising sun as it paints the Berkshire landscape with wonderful colors, while the balloon majestically inflates. You feel such an emotional rush as you lift off and effortlessly drift over lush greenery, ground haze and, frequently wildlife such as deer, beaver, wild turkey and even moose. One flight we saw a bear. (You can now pinpoint where you saw him using our on-board GPS system, from which you'll get a flight profile and track printout after the flight) (Update: We just had another bear sighting in Richmond,

Sept., 2007. He was a big one!)

Afternoon Flight: Take off about 2 hours before sunset and feel the sheer delight of this unique form of flight. Contour flying at the treetop level lets you pick leaves and pine cones and see sights from an angle you’ve never seen before. Wave to people coming home from work. Everyone wants to say hello to you in a balloon. Cars honk. Dogs bark. What an extraordinary way to spend time with a special person .                                                  

 

Warning: Ballooning is highly addictive. Maybe you’ll start out innocently enough, going to a balloon festival or booking a flight. Then you might join a chase crew. Pretty soon you’ve graduated to the hard stuff – you buy a balloon, get your license and after that, if you’re like me, you get up early every morning to check out the weather on the net to see when is the next time you can fly.       Yes, I admit it, I’m a balloonaholic.                      Hopefully there is no cure.

 

The Connecticut River - Great place to Splash-n-dash (Photo taken by a passenger in the Thunderbuster Balloon - 8/07)

 

 

Click on one of the topics below to go to that page

e-mail us - click here: billvolk@westmass.com

Call us at 1-800-286-5401

You can use cash or a check (my preferred methods) to pay for the ride, but for those who simply must use a credit card, use one of the buttons below.

  Contact us, then click on button to pay for your ride
If you don't want to pay in full today, but would like to reserve a date for a flight. I ask that you give a $100 deposit to lock in the date. IMPORTANT: Do not do this unless you have already talked to me to make sure the date you want is available.

Long View Ballooning now takes credit cards. Don't be hasty; check out the entire site, especially the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page, contact us with any more questions you may have, and then click on the button above to pay for a ride.  Important: Please e-mail me after you use this procedure. I discovered that PayPal does not notify me and I'd hate for you not to get the credit.

 

   Long View Ballooning does not accept accept nationwide balloon ride certificates. Click on the NO

   NATIONWIDE CERTIFICATES symbol to the left to find out why and why we strongly advise you to

   avoid such companies (scams).

 

 

Fly with us, or at least look for the Long View Balloon at the following upcoming 2008 Balloon Festivals:

 

June 13-15, 2008, Heineken 93Q Balloon Fest - Jamesville Beach Park (near Syracuse NY). This will be our first time there (This festival has a very good reputation & a long waiting list of pilots waiting to get in.). Their website is  http://syracuseballoonfest.com/

 

July 18-20, 2008 - Green River Festival - Greenfield MA (GCC). This festival features lots of great music as well as balloons. The Balloonmeister is my friend Paul Sena. Website = http://www.greenriverfestival.com

 

July 25-27, 2008 - Balloons Over Niagara - Sanborn New York on the campus of Niagara County Community College.

 

July 30-August 3, 2008 - City of Quebec (Canada) Balloon Festival. This festival is a spectacular event on the shores of the St Lawrence. It's in it's 26th year. (75 balloons incl. many special shapes)

This is Quebec City's 400th Anniversary so there will be a lot of celebrating going on and lots of things to see.

(Wow!! I better rest up, looks like the end of July is gonna be pretty tiring.)

 

September 12-14, 2008 - Look Park Weekend - Look Park, Northampton, MA. Last year this festival drew decent and enthusiastic crowds despite mostly being rained or winded out on all but one flight. Lets hope for better luck this year.

 

AM the 1st Sat. in January, 2009 - The Freeze Your Buns Rally - Of the Connecticut Lighter than Air Society. We love this fly-out and have had Great flights there since our first time in 2002 (about 25 mi west of Hartford)

 

2nd weekend in February, 2009 - a week after the Iron Butt Safety Seminar we balloonists met at the Northampton Airport for our own Massachusetts style balloon fly-out. Not to take the thunder from the Connecticut event, above we called this one the Freeze Your Tush rally. We had a damn good time so we're gonna do it again next year.

 

Flying with other balloons in the pattern is truly spectacular. To book a flight at any of these balloon festivals, contact us at billvolk@westmass.com

 

Contact Info:

Phones: 800-286-5401, 413-634-5401, 413-634-2174, & Cell phone (which only works occasionally up here in the hills): 413-695-6293

E-mail: billvolk@westmass.com

 

Pilot: Bill Volk

Address: Long View Ballooning

                73 West Main St.

                Cummington, MA 01026

This website is always changing. It was last updated May 3, 2008