it all started in the late eighteenth century a balloon with two passengers in the basket was launched from a paris suburb one pm and fifty four minutes on november the twenty first seventeen eighty three was piloted by. and marquis de long after flying across the french capital they landed safely in another suburb twenty minutes later the king of france for stowed them the title of count being the first humans to fly in the air and granted them the right to hand it down to successive generations of balloonists. since then anyone going up in a balloon for the first time has to pass an initiation ritual to be awarded the title of count by the pilots. because she was which elements do you know count. really earth water

fire. what else in. the air rights of the us were gone through all of them today we took off from earth and flew in the air as for water there's lots of it on the ground and in the air and of course we're going to have taken off without fire. fire is the main driving force of any hot air balloons the first time as have the hair ends burnt as a sign of respect for fire champagne then comes into play as a symbol of water that is used to extinguish the flaming has finally the initiated tell the head sprinkled with earth as a good luck charm for future flights. the

first balloon launch in russia came exactly twenty years after the french debut in eighteen zero three a balloonist from paris flew a russian balloon passenger over moscow according to one theory empress alexander the first but ordered the launch he wanted to know what such aircraft cruising knows designed for warfare capable of doing in the mid twentieth century ballooning was no longer popular in russia almost no military balloons have been in use after world war two yet ballooning today remains a recreational activity for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. p.s.e. gorse russia's oldest spa resort today it is popular among both russian and foreign balloonists you find both mountains and lowlands the city is just over one thousand five hundred kilometers south of moscow mt elbrus europe's highest point is only

seventy kilometers away the mountain stands nearly five thousand five hundred meters above sea level. the first ballooning competitions in the caucasus were held here russia's southernmost region that was in the mid one nine hundred ninety s. a pilot had to be a professional to stay. keep it at the right altitude you can never tell how the air currents are going to behave. only nine pilots turned up for the inaugural event thirteen years ago nowadays it is an international festival that attracts both russian and foreign balloonists the aim is to restore former glory. is a former air force pilot and the first. the crew holds him in high respect who was the first russian take the risk of launching the. take.

that featured the colors of the russian flag from we went to paris. from their own . nation in chile with the world's southernmost says a. number of stations belonging to the united states very many people in high places outside our country from the presence of russian blueness they're extremely objectionable. before we arrived in chile. we were able to fly to king george oil and only after two failed attempts. to get in the end with winds of eighty meters a second we did manage to launch a balloon but not before everything that could be broken was broken.

only four men in the world including myself have ever launched balloons in the antarctic. it. was trained by. one of the first balloonists in the former soviet union has been chief. competition in russia found he. the country's first factoring company russia has a total of forty professional balloonists that make frequent flights. each exercise is performed within a radius of two hundred fifty meters other balloons start trailing behind the hair a minute later. before the referee tells contestants what they're supposed to do just like with passenger aircraft billings a check for any technical folks prussia taking off alexander's wife vera shares his

passion for flying she was six years old when she first saw a balloon since then her cherished dream must been to pilot one. the theme everyone can participate. with no matter how old you are better and how welcome to come here with children very many men bring their wives along their money but they don't come here is simply to look around and go for a right they help a lot. now. says the ballooning competitions she recalls them a new visit wind speeds and alternative flight paths and schools them accordingly. the first balloon to go. it is the heads as soon as it touches down the pilot will allow to crawl some the ground the job of other pilots is to keep in mark as precisely as possible. the first building to go up is called ahead the latest lingo is piloted by the judge then the other contestants need to mimic its

maneuvers by approaching it all moving away. only few pilots can cope with such difficult competition the professionalism of the telephone also has a couple the title of aero good. of russia but aloneness founded russia's first company money fracturing balloons aleksandr made his first pulling in the late one nine hundred eighty s. it's lining born inscription saying the first soviet made goldfish. bowl looming has gained enormous popularity in russia in the past two years this can be seen from the growing number of orders for balloons placed with our company . itself i don't think the shape of balloons or even the wicker baskets is going to change the balloons of the future for more

comfort to inflate pilots. things like better navigation smoother knobs and delicate thin cords instead of course ropes tools would getting entangled . sensors will give way to radio signals reporting temperatures inside the envelope . and all that will be mainly intended for the spectators the balloons are most likely to look like the ones built by the brothers. for a long time to come. all i had was a basket and. one tank costs full two minutes after that it should be changed i mean it should be two tanks at all times one of them an active duty and the other as a backup. to

. this right here is where the baskets are born these tubs are filled with water. the liquid is used to soak willow. canes are here. but we're using rotten pam to make of this particular basket today on the gumball. used to give school children physical education. he was a teacher by calling and dre even held a scientific degree for fun he decided to weave. it today he's head of a company which makes money. in the old days we used to make. today the. poly used it's more popular because it's more practical it's

imported from europe and southeast asia. takes three or four hours the material is not put to any particular test to see whether it is ready for processing but then i don't need any i just bend it to see whether breaks or not. it's a simple as that if you've this. ok let's get down to work. with. craft with a long history it was all the rage a nineteenth century russia well that was used to make all sorts of things from furniture and suitcases to hunt bags and toys the traditional craft somewhat faded in the twentieth century but it is being revived today although this is a slow process only a few workshops can handle major deals involving with the work. family but a human nowadays basket wickerwork barely differs from its french origins yet the

same technique has been used for hundreds of years i have seen how they do it in the czech republic and in germany their methods are very much alike. andrei shares his team's motto there is no place for unimportant things in aviation bus gets a made in strict conformity with blueprints the job takes three days on average every small detail is important from the ropes to the framework few women and found in this trade men's hands a stronger. lashley our products retain the warmth of our hands. no i'm sure but if you are in a good mood while waving a basket the result is a good product. the

close up team has been to the whole bar of screeching for the country's mineral

wealth starts its way across the ocean. now our team goes to the area. once named dr len in good looking to a different character to represent itself. for local businesses are striving to build the aviation capital of russia. good for the four by fours are made and can be tested to the limit. welcome to the screech of. russia close up. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china corporations are today.

which brighton. sound from finest impressions. means friends down totty dot com. the envelope is the most important part of a balloon the safety of all those on board depends on its quality designers make a computer model of a balloon numbered once the blueprint is finished they use it to cut out a couple of material these are used to make plots. elena cooper is a seamstress by trade twenty years ago she worked as a tailors making dresses and overcoats when ballooning got a new lease of life she switched to the ambitious task of making balloon envelopes

elaine has ballooned several times including flights aboard balloons of her own making. last balloons during a festival in moscow it was a very long time ago i even flew over the kremlin and it was so much fun. now such fine some bent back in one thousand nine hundred one or one thousand nine hundred two. it was amazing. below. his that's a nice piece of material and so easy to handle. qualities of primary importance in our business what's you think of intentionally messed it up so you'll fall out of the sky. never absolutely not a great job very well done since. the company repairs the

existing beliefs as well as making new ones that receive several damaged envelopes a month this part of the balloon is subjected to wear and tear more often than others after the envelope is repaired and the new one is ready to test start. off is the main believing tester of the factory none of the balloons made by the company will be launched unless he gives the go ahead. our best gets match european standards. they were not as good in the old days but no they're russia's best. true i can't afford to pay the price but. i would buy one if they were not so expensive it. is a veteran russian air and he's been involved with aviation for fifty four years.

the boom design of the training he's built seven of them with his own hands. first took up ballooning when he was fifty three years old he looks forward to celebrating his seventy fifth birthday in flight the contest balloons at any time under any conditions one hundred flights a year is a minimum. sure that flying is always a list full of whatever the conditions. of all vision normal position. the balloon is in working order as a chewed being. hopefully will get no complaints from the guys in a lot of. this

is not what i call flying. in general i don't see being tethered is the definition of fly only with the out there who truly flying. a hot air balloon can only be in free flight during the day time it's a common rule. in the world the basket has to touch down before sunset. unlike balloons in free flight attendant balloons are allowed to be launched even in the dock in that case the burner illuminates the balloon from the inside. pilot's referred to this phenomena. as the organizers of the p.r. festival of balloonists came up with the idea for the spectacle to attract tourists .

current simpatico such that early morning is the best time for taking to the skies the convoy of balloonists normally starts out at five o'clock in the morning to head towards the starting line. the success of the flight primarily depends on the wind no matter how skillful the pilot might be blue sky it weather forecasts and reports about the force and direction of the wind from ground control safety services but then there is a simpler way of determining the winds direction the whole crew takes part in preparations for a flight normally it includes four people a technician carries out checks to satisfy himself for the balloon is in working order. alba good flights. balloons are raised into the sky by the pilot and the navigator but whether the crew will get home depends on those who stay on the

ground. once a balloon lands the crew has to be retrieved from the spot. sometimes inexperienced teams responsible for retrieval can't find crews. landing at dusk therefore those unfortunate balloonists have to spend the night out in the open. is another ex air force pilot. during competitions he is often charged with the task of ensuring the crew safe return to his job is retrieving crews of from wherever they might land.

rainbow pickup is calling day rate because i can hear you. wonderful. special training to learn how to get his bearings in different conditions whether in the woods or mountains but tracking a balloon through the streets of a town is a skill in its own right. the problem with tracking a balloon flying over a city or another population center is that there is a mass of people. you need to have a good knowledge of the city's top dog or free and the flood so. what invariably ends up happening. is you get stuck in traffic. which is just great. you know this is a very convenient place. from here we can see where balloons are going where they are likely to touch down. and you see our balloon rising over this town

it's over by the hill. how far a balloon can fly depends on the wind what's most important is to make sure that it lands in such ways to make it easy for the retrieval truck to get to. bring the radio pick up calling are you coming in to. head down right away ok we're coming. he kept can you see as. he can see you very well. that the. nail loses three zero four kilograms of weight in

a week of intense retrievals the crew puts the billing together and takes it apart several times the envelope weighs one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty kilograms . i think about which we entrust our very lives to this envelope where we make sure that no stones get in the way which might damage it three or four years during. each gas tank weighs fifty kilograms if you add that to the burner in the basket the retrieval people will be hard put to collect it all. pylon. my lawn.

now we're all. on face value ballooning is a simple affair behind the scenes it is a vigorous combination of efforts by a crew of an escort truck and those who help build salute these people define rain snow bitter cold and scorching heat truly they're afraid of only one thing the ability to take to the skies. the sky does not misunderstand the sky does not judge the sky very simply it's. down to the official antti haply cation on the phone i pod touch from the q snaps

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a very warm welcome to you from all of us here. but he plans to team up with the arab league and restart a monitoring mission in conflict. on syria other follows russia's ongoing calls for the international community to support moscow in efforts to mediate a peace deal in syria government forces are shelling several areas including the flashpoint city of homs damascus said ducking an anti terror operation there but activists are accusing the government of a massacre and say hundreds of feet of civilians have been killed over the past week syria is under a foreign media blackout making the reality on the ground hard to confirm the opposition isn't making that any easier as it argues over just how many people are being killed going to delve deeper into this story is artes of about. the syrian observatory of human rights it's one of the most widely quoted sources of syrian casualty figures but it's not.