Our Services
Bendigo Ballooning is a commercial hot air ballooning business offering joy rides to individuals, and aerial and charter services to business organizations. The work includes corporate advertising, film and television production work, corporate leadership training, corporate reward flights and pilot tuition.
Joy Rides
There's something magical about ballooning. The joy of it almost defies description. Noisy one moment, quiet the next, ever changing, never dull. It's exhilarating too, and yet so romantic. 'Far from the madding crowd', ballooning is as much at home in central Victoria today as it would have been in Thomas Hardy's gentle, pastoral England.
Weather permitting, Bendigo Ballooning offers hot air balloon rides 7 days a week, all year round. The company has 4 balloons, 2 full-time pilots and a number of part-time pilots who are usually available at relatively short notice.
We automatically accept everybody from 8 to 108 so long as they are fit and independently mobile. We usually accept children between 3 and 8 but only after further discussion with their parents or guardians, and only after careful consideration of various matters including their height, their natural disposition and the weather conditions on the day.
Film and television
Because balloon flight is always so calm, hot air balloons are an excellent platform for aerial filming and photography. Unless a very specific shot is required, aerial filming from a balloon almost always yields marvellous results. Furthermore, by deployment of rotation vents, it's possible to create an uninterrupted 360° panorama in a way that is not easily achieved in other types of aircraft.
Given that they are generally at least 9 stories high, commercial balloons are also ideal as a floating billboard. Indeed, Bendigo Ballooning already flies a balloon on behalf of AAPT smartChat, whose name and message is seen regularly by thousands directly, and hundreds of thousands indirectly through television, newspapers, magazines and personal snapshots.
Pilot Training
Bendigo Ballooning can arrange pilot training for anyone who wants it. After obtaining the required student pilot's licence from the Australian Ballooning Federation (ABF), student pilots must complete at least 15 hours training, and pass a range of theory exams before being eligible to be tested for a private pilot's certificate (PPC). Thereafter, private pilots must log at least 75 hours as pilot in command before being eligible to start commercial flight instruction.
Last updated: 25 June 2004