News Room 2004

7th July 2004 - and the winner is...

The nudie 16th World Hot Air Ballooning Championship has finished with 13 tasks in 4 flights. Congratulations to Markus Pieper of Germany who is the new World Champion.

Australia's pilots fared well with a long over due podium finish for Paul Gibbs in 3rd place. Sean Kavanagh finished the week in 15th place and Edwin Michell in 42nd after what most pilots would agree was a challenging week for all.

Poor weather prevented the full range of tasks and flights from being set which was as much a disappointment for the organisers as it was for the competitors. Every one is now looking forward to November 2006 for the next World Championship which is to be held in Motegi, Japan.

Full details of the event and results can be found at www.2004worldsballoons.com

29th June 2004 - 2004 Worlds and more..

The nudie 16th World Hot Air Ballooning Championship is under way. Currently only one flight has been made in the competition due to high winds but the weather is expected to improve over the next few days.

The Australian team will all be taking the Ex-65 Vertigo into competition as their balloon of choice and we wish them all good luck.

Full details of the event and results can be found at www.2004worldsballoons.com

Kilo Bravo is a new publication that Kavanagh Balloons have created in-house as a gift to all participants and crews at the 2004 Worlds. The 24 page, full colour magazine has been edited by our own Tem Smith with the graphic design work by Sean Kavanagh.

The magazine includes articles on the very first World Champion, Denny Flodden and a look at the history of the event through past results. Tem Smith has also hit the archives to look at the very early days of ballooning in Australia.....there is lots more in there so watch this space for an online copy if we can get the file size down enough.

Members of the ABF and New Zealand Balloon federations will receive a copy in the post and extra copies are available to everyone at the Championship.

Model Mania - Just in time for the 2004 Worlds, we have produced our second M80 envelope for Justin Galbraith to entertain the crowds with. This pint sized balloon is 80 Cubic Metres in volume and uses a German made remote controlled basket and burner.

The RC balloon featured in the opening ceremony of the 2004 Worlds and has made regular appearances on the main launch site when weather permits. Along with the balloon, Justin has remote controlled helicopters, planes and cars to keep the big and little kids entertained.

Pricing on the RC balloons is yet to be confirmed but after the crowd reaction to this one, they seem to be a great promotional tool for launch fields once the real balloons have flown away.

New Balloons - The new balloons page has been updated with a whole bunch of balloons for all corners of Australia and Kenya.

5th January 2004 - Welcome to 2004

2004 is shaping up to be a great year for Australian ballooning with lots of exciting events to look forward to.

Second Round Entries for the 2004 World Championships in Mildura are out and will close on the 30th of January. At this time Sean Kavanagh, Paul Gibbs and Edwin Michell are all registered to represent Australia at what is going to be a great event.

Visit www.2004worldsballoons.com for more information as the count down begins.

January 2nd and 3rd 2004 - Flights over Melbourne