Irish Success For Exclusive...

28th August 2011

Exclusive Ballooning have taken top honours at the first Northern Ireland hot air balloon fiesta in Moira, near Lisburn.

A well organised event, sadly affected by strong winds all weekend which limited the flying to the very experienced. Three pilots from Exclusive Ballooning were present with Operations Manager Dave Groombridge winning the long distance trophy.

Senior pilots Piers Glydon and Andrew Holly were two of only three pilots able to get airborne on the Monday evening and also the Tuesday morning as conditions were very challenging.

"The Tuesday morning flight was particularly great. We flew across Moira towards Hillsborough and the directly over Hillsborough Castle and Fort before landing to the east. Everyone we met throughout the weekend was friendly and welcoming and we look forward to returning in 2012" - Andrew Holly

On the Tuesday morning, Piers had the town's Mayor as a guest and throughout the weekend the team from Exclusive Ballooning were on hand talking to the media.

The monday afternoon was very windy and it took the experience from the team to get the Blue Square regular upright in the arena. The team then went on to tether the Blue Square special shape later in the afternoon...

The balloons in attendance were G-CFXI (Blue Square Cube), G-CFXL (Blue Square regular) and G-OOEY (Exclusive One). Outside of the flying, we were able to enjoy the fabulous Irish coastline and hospitality - we all look forward to next year's event.

Exclusive Ballooning and Blue Square hot air balloons at the Northern Ireland balloon fiesta 2011