'The balloon seems to stand still in the air while the earth flies past underneath'
Alberto Santos-Dumont, 1904
Septermber2023
Women’s world hot air balloon championsip
Northam, WA
January 2023
kaiserwinkl Alpine balloon festival, austria
June 2022
Winter Solstice Celebrations
April 2022
Social Flying in the king valley
April 2022
Canowindra International Balloon Challenge
March 2022
king valley balloon fiesta
September 2021
New Australian AltiTude Record for a Cloud-Hopper
On Sunday 26 September, the ever intrepid Ronald Kent took his new cloud-hopper, that he built throughout COVID 19 lockdowns, to new heights, setting a new Australian altitude record of 15,538 feet in the AX4 category. Reporting to BAV members after landing, Ronald said:
This morning I put trust in my own sewing skills and flew my hopper to 15,000. Happy to report all went well.
June 2021
Ronald Kent interviewed on ABC Radio Melbourne by Sammy J
Listen to Sammy J, Breakfast presenter on ABC Radio Melbourne, interviewing Ronald Kent about the cloud-hopper balloon he built and about hot air ballooning in general.
April 2021
easter weekend flying in the king valley
March 2021
Lockdown project finally launches
Ronald Kent’s new Cloud Hopper—VH-HOP—a home-build, which he meticulously sewed and assembled during the long COVID lockdown in Melbourne, has finally had its maiden flight. All images courtesy of Martin Tregale
November 2020
Montgolier weekend celebrations in the king valley
June 2020
Winter solstice celebrations
April 2020
airborne
Animated footage set to music written by the composer Gary Havrillay for his upcoming album, ‘Gravity’.
March 2020
canberra balloon spectacular
October/ November 2019
social flying in benalla
September 2019
BAV Championship 2019
Congratulations Rolf Dennler for winning this years BAV Championship. Thank you Steve Ireland and Martin Tregale for organising the event and to everyone who took part.
August 2019
SOCIAL flying over benalla
Celebrating Francois’ new balloon!
July 2019
Student training camp at lake cullulleraine
11 students, 5 pilots, 15 crew and 9 instructors/ examiners attended this years training camp. There were 55 theory exams passed, 34 student hours flown, 9.9 of which were solo; 1 instructor upgrade and 1 successful exam flight. A big thank you to Martin Tregale for organising a successful camp, to Steve Griffin for all his time spent examining during the week and to Sarah and Kate for all your help before and during the week. Thank you also to all the presenters for their informative talks.
June 2019
Winter solstice celebrations
June 2019
king valley balloon festival and night glow
March 2019
canberra balloon spectacular
February 2019
bav hut working bee
December 2018
flying over volcanoes
Hot Air Balloon pilots from the Balloon Association of Victoria conducted a Volcano flying expedition. On day one 2 balloons flew over Mt. Elephant and on day two, three balloons flew over Mt. Noorat. The local community were very welcoming and BAV would like to thank them for their hospitality.
November 2018
bav pilot in the press
Sarah Ellis, along with the BAV Balloon Vicky, have become celebrities in her home town of Horsham.
October 2018
social flying in the king valley
August 2018
Ronald kent’s australian record
Ronald Kent’s recent Australian Record for Duration in a 77 balloon got a lovely write up in the local press. Congratulations Ronald!
August 2018
new australian duration record in a 77 balloon
Ronald Kent has set a third Australian record, this time beating the 1999 record for duration in a 77 balloon by flying for 9 hours and 2 minutes. Congratulations Ronald!
August 2018
new australian duration record in a 56 balloon
Ronald Kent has set a new Australian record, flying for 6 hours and 27 minutes from Ballarat to Laanecoorie. Congratulations Ronald!
July 2018
new australian record for distance in a small balloon
Ronald Kent beat the Australian record for distance in a small 56 balloon, flying an incredible 381 km from Merebin in Victoria to Jerilderie, NSW. The record had been held for 38 years by Ron Taaffe who, in 1980, flew 354.87 km in a 56 balloon. This was no easy task in such a small balloon and took a lot of planning and dedication. Kiff Saunders flew alongside Ronald in a larger class 77 balloon and managed an amazing 400 km. Congratulations from all of us at BAV.
June 2018
King valley balloon festival
The inaugural King Valley Balloon festival was run on the Queens Birthday weekend. Three flights commenced at the Brown Brothers winery airfield and the night glow on Saturday night was enjoyed by 3,000 spectators. We also tethered at wineries in Whitfield on Sunday afternoon. Many thanks to the organisers & sponsors of this spectacular event. We look forward to seeing you in the King Valley next year.
May 2018
2018 victorian championships
The 2018 Victorian Championships was conducted on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of May with Benalla putting on perfect weather conditions on both mornings.
Andrew Robertson from NSW made the trip down from Sydney for some practice before heading to the World Championships in Gross Siegharts, Australia in August. His father was a previous winner, winning the Championships back in the 1980's. Andrew has recently become a club member. The rest of the field was made up of club members, Martin Tregale and Joni Jones. Steve Ireland (ACT) was again our Director.
Fresh off his second at the Canowindra Challenge behind World Champion Johnny Petrehn and in his brand new Balloony McBalloonface Kavanagh EX-60 racer, Andrew took a clean sweep of the first three tasks on the first morning, a JDG (Judge Declared Goal), followed by another JDG and then a FON (Fly On). The second morning saw another three tasks, a JDG, MDD (Maximum Distance Double Drop) and a FON and another clean sweep to Andrew. Martin Tregale did well in his first competition event, being within the MMA (Marker Measuring Area) for all tasks. Joni and Rolf flew together and I am sure you will see them both back next year. Check out the final results at our facebook page, Balloons Victoria
April 2018
social flying weekend
April 2018
balloons victoria has a new pilot!
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S David on passing your check flight and becoming a balloon pilot.
March 2018
balloons victoria has a New pilot!
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Alana on passing your check flight and becoming a balloon pilot.
March 2018
Easter weekend at Benalla
March 2018
Canberra balloon spectacular 2018
December 2017
merry christmas from bav
This year Ian and Sue Robinson and Glenda and Rolf Dennler each received a Lifetime Membership Award for their contributions to the club over the years. Thank you from all at BAV.
September 2017
the great australian long jump
Congratulations Rolf Dennler on winning this years Long Jump competition. Rolf flew 220.6 km in 4 hours 48 minutes, using 144 litres of fuel. Congratulations also to Richard and James Michell who successfully followed Rolf on the ground all the way from Benalla in Victoria to Leeton, New South Wales.
August 2017
mount buller
BAV members flew over Mount Buller in celebration of Rolf Dennler's 70th birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY! See the video here.
August 2017
Cave hill creek - 25 year anniversary
Balloons Victoria celebrated 25 years of the annual Cave Hill Creek Ballooning Get Together in what was yet another magical weekend of flying, craft making and joyful catch ups. BAV would like to thank all at Cave Hill Creek for their wonderful hospitality. For more information on Cave Hill Creek see: www.cavehillcreek.com.au
July 2017
bav safety seminar
In his new role as Safety and Technical officer for the Balloon Association of Victoria, Matthew Dutneall organised a successful safety seminar on and around the theme of LPG and its properties. The seminar was held on 8th July 2017 at Tooradin Airport and emphasised the importance of safety for pilots, passengers and crew.
May 2017
student check flight passed
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S to Matthew Dutneall on becoming a Balloon Pilot. BAV would also like to thank Pete Dutneall and Ronald Kent for all your help in getting another pilot into the air.
May 2017
2017 bav state championships
Congratulations to Ronald Kent on wining his 6th state championship title after three days of competition. Thank you to all who took part and to Steve Ireland for setting the tasks and keeping track of the scores.
April 2017
Easter weekend
April 2017
bav mini training camp
Congratulations Ella and Josie on getting one step closer to becoming pilots.
March 2017
canberra balloon spectacular
Thank you to Michael Reid of Cracefulphotography for capturing our club balloon Vicky as she flew high (and low) over Lake Burley Griffin.
March 2017
Canberra balloon spectacular
February 2017
Vicky went to a wedding
Never one to miss a good party, BAV was delighted to accept an invitation to do a tethered flight at wedding! Thank you to Alli Oughtred at allioughtredweddings.com for the photos.
January 2017
bav has a new flag
A big thank you to Chris Brown for designing our new flag, which is now flying high at the club hut in Benalla.
December 2016
merry christmas from bav
December 2016
lifetime membership award
Audrey and Barry Leak have been awarded the BAV Lifetime Membership Award for their contribution and dedication to the club over the past 25 years. Thank you for all you have done.
November 2016
Montgolfier Day 2016
BAV members gathered in Benalla and took to the skies in celebration of the 234th anniversary of the very first hot air balloon flight.
