On the last bank holiday of this year Virgin Balloon Flights pilot Spencer Craze was in on the aviation action at the Wings and Wheels festival at Dunsfold Park, Surrey. As a hopeful new launch site for the next ballooning season, Dunsfold was the perfect place for such an event with our eager team offering attractive discounts to festival goers.
Father-of-two and our Surrey pilot Spencer said “Wings and Wheels was a fantastic weekend event, I got a chance to talk to numerous local land owners and gained some new landing spots for my balloon when flying from Guildford in Surrey and Fernhurst in Sussex.
“The atmosphere was so upbeat and exciting; our balloon basket got a lot of attention from the 35,000 strong crowds that gathered over the two days. It was good to see that proceeds were for charities too, including Help for Heroes” he added.
Virgin Balloon Flights were not the only ones getting attention at the event, one of Spencer’s balloon crew, Rebecca, met ‘Red Bull Air Race World Champion' Paul Bonhomme who claimed his title navigating challenging obstacle courses against the clock in his ‘Zivko Edge 540’ plane.
Breitling Wing Walking Team were also on hand to wow the crowds before stopping to pose for a picture with our pilot Spencer and his crew. The two girls (either side of Spencer) performed ‘aerosuperbatics’ whilst suitably named pilot ‘Dangerous Dave’ flew the team’s Boeing Stearman biplane.
Spencer concluded by saying “We had such a great time and after speaking with Dunstall Park Aerospace VIP David McAllister at the event, we hope to be there next year with other hot air balloons in tow! I would like to say a big thank you to my crew and my friends that helped to make the day such a success for Virgin Balloon Flights.”
Next year’s Wings and Wheels event will be held at Dunstold Park on the 28th &29th August 2011.
More information about flying with Spencer and Virgin Balloon Flights is available here.