Sagrantino Ballooning Trip 2019 - Pantalla      31st July:

Inflations at the Ready at Pantalla

    With a southerly wind of 1-2 knots, Tony and I took off from the grass airfield at Pantalla, an alternative launch site that would provide the opportunity for balloonists to try and fly over the historic town of Todi 6.8 miles to the south.
    As we slowly ascended, trying to get a feel for the wind direction at different altitudes. The unrolling patchwork quilt below us peppered with buff coloured towns was bathed in a beautiful golden light by the rising sun. We purposefully did not climb too high so that wind sheer would not push us out of the broad valley that lead to Todi.
    The busy E45 highway stretched like a multi-coloured millipede into the distance. With a length of about 5,190 km (3,225 mi), the European Route E45 is among the longest north-south highways in Europe, stretching between Alta in northern Norway to Gela in southern Italy. Today it was blocked due to an incident by Pantalla. How cool was that, at one with the wind, free as a bird, looking down on the claustrophobic jam of humanity slowly stewing on that highway. A tinge of guilt flashed through my mind, but I soon dispelled that, scanned the distant horizon and smiled to myself.
    Niall was flying the hopper, and he called me via the ether from his precarious perch about half a mile away to tell me that at 2,000 feet he was whizzing along at 8 knots.
    Tony, however, wanted to stick to his plan. We shared a simply lovely flight up the valley, criss-crossing the meandering river, Flume Tevere, below. A train track gently curved along the valley; avoiding that was a must. It was clear we did not have the speed to get anywhere near Todi, so Tony focussed his attention on identifying possible landing sights with no obstacles. In the distance a huddle of stubble fields presented themselves as suitable targets. We lined up a favourable glide path, and gracefully came into a gentle, almost vertical, landing. We were on a ploughed section of a field, perhaps 20m from the stubble expanse, so I leapt out and walked Cloud Nine across to the favourable stubble.

Tony Checking the Burner

    With no breeze at all at ground level, it took an age for the hot air to vent out of the envelope. Once packed away into the trailer, we headed across country to where Niall had landed further on towards Todi. He was enjoying refreshments with the local farmer when we turned up; some guys have all the luck. Then it was a beer, croissant and chin wag at the balloonists' watering hole, Bar Cleri near Todi before returning back to Camiano Piccolo.
    In the evening we walked up to the Piazza del Comune in Montefalco for a beer and cocktail. A large festival was to be held here the next day, and we watched the preparations in hand. A solitary tractor was working overtime pulling up tables and chairs on a trailer, with a gaggle of youths astride on the top of the freight singing and shouting.
     We returned to Camiano Piccolo for an evening meal, absolutely delicious. A young Italian family sat on a table next to us, the two children extremely well behaved. Liz and Fiona noted that Italian children are often out in restaurants in the evenings, and they are by and large extremely well behaved. They had a point.

Up, Up and Away

I Feel Free - Think of "Cream"

Landing Site in the Distance with Todi 3.2 Miles Further On