be able to do it singlehanded each person has a zone of responsibility those on the ground are responsible for the ones in the sky together they are a close knit team. 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. unlucky day 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. that is that she was which elements do you know count. earth water fire you know 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 well that's for water there's lots of it on the ground and in there and of course we're going to have taken off without fire. of. fire is the main driving force of any hot air balloons the first timers have their 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 have their heads 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 zero 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 those designed for warfare were 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.r.c. gorski russia's oldest spa resort today it is popular among both russian and foreign

balloonists a 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 southern most 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 with. 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 pilot on the first. the crew holds him in high respect he was the first russian take the risk of launching a balloon in the antarctic. that featured the colors of the russian flag from we went to paris. from there on. finally reached the nation in chile the world southernmost city. you. host 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 island but 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. as far as i know 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 he has been chief referee it every competition in russia he. the country's first on a 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 reaching the referee tells contestants what they're supposed

to do just like with passenger aircraft billings a check for any technical folks project 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. everyone can purchase the payson 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 right now they help a lot. now they are a lot of them honest says the building competitions she recalls them a new visit wind speeds and alternative flight paths and schools them accordingly. the first balloon to go up for stubborn it is a heads as soon as it touches down the pilot will allow to cross and the ground the

job of the pilots is to keep in mark as precisely as possible. the first building to go up is called the heading blueness lingo it 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 talan also has earned the couple the title of aero good. of russia but aloneness founded russia's first company money fracturing balloons aleksandr made his first balloon in the late one nine hundred eighty s. it's lining born inscription saying the first soviet made monk 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 will offer a more comfort to inflate pilots. things like better navigation smoother knobs and delicate pin cords instead of course ropes tools void getting entangled. sensors will give way to radio signals reporting temperatures inside the. dust 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 it had was a basket and. one

tank costs full two minutes after that it should be changed to me should be two tanks at all times one of them an x. as you see it 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 are using rattan pam to make of this particular basket today on the gumball . used to give school children physical education. he was a teacher by cooling and dre even held a scientific degree for fun he decided to weave. it today he's head of

a company which makes much larger. than the old days we used to make. today. polly 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 it breaks or not. it's a simple as that if you've just. ok let's get down to work. we can work is a handy 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 prams 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. and gracious is teams motto there is no place for unimportant things in aviation busk it's 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. the. uninsured but if you are in a good mood while waving

a basket the result is a good product. from los angeles to chicago to birmingham twenty trauma centers have closed since two thousand severe home is not enough in-patient beds not enough urgency department beds and not enough nurses commandos that to take care of all the people who are

the only real health care system that we have in the city of los angeles is the los angeles fire department in fact when i started my venture is a firefighter i didn't want to do so i started out going to just do fire fighting it's about eighty two percent of what we do the far the problem is medical i've got a rescue couple weeks i waited four hours for it i've waited sometimes three hours and i was it's a it's a francis in lynnwood for four hours and fifty minutes standing against a wall of patients and we have a federal law that mandates that if you can't turn no one away who seeks care in an emergency room. we have the most expensive health care system in the world and it's probably valued the least. cultures that so much are given to you to be said to share power on the market the

fate of and the battle for syria the international community is as divided as the syrians themselves when it comes to resolving the situation. the envelope is the most important part of the balloon the safety of all those on board it depends on its quality design is make a computer model of the believe numbers once the blueprint is finished they use it to cut out a pocket of material these are used to make cots blue. elena cooper yeovil is a seamstress by trade twenty years ago she worked as a tailless making dresses and overcoats when ballooning go to a new lease of life she switched to the ambitious task of making believe the envelopes elaina's blue. several times including flights aboard balloons making. i lost balloons during the festival and. it was a very long time ago i even flew over the kremlin and it was so much fun. now

such find some bent but back in one thousand nine hundred one or one thousand nine hundred two. it was amazing. oh. that's a nice piece of material and so easy to handle. qualities of primary importance in our business what you think of intentionally messed it up so you'll fall out of the sky. never absolutely not a great job you'll end up very well done. the company repairs the existing beliefs as well as making new ones it receives. the lopes 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.

as the main believe tester of the factory none of the balloons made by the company will be launched unless he gives the go ahead. our best gets met european standards. they were not as good in the old days but now 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. as 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 to go 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. if you could see that flying is old weazened blissful whatever the conditions. normal position. in the balloon is in working order as it should be is 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 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 bus good house 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 good organizers of the past 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 balloonists get 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 that the balloon is in working order. our good flight. 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. air force pilot. during competitions he is often charged with the task of ensuring the crew safe return to earth. retrieving crews of from wherever they might land. rainbow pick up as calling day rate pick up 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 bugger free and the floods 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.

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. night elise is 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 what we entrust our very lives to this envelope where

we make sure that no stones get in the way which might damage it. 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 to believe these people to find

rain snow bitter cold and scorching heat truly they're afraid of only one thing the using the ability to take to the skies. the sky does not misunderstand the sky does not judge the sky very simply is. undefined as we strive for the australia idea that there's no way round to see the film on trees if you want to have sex go and have sex.

resistance is not of politics but a culture. is couldn't speak. on its own. cultures of resistance on our team.

the un an arab league want to work together to stop the bloodshed in syria but the conflicting numbers of deaths coming from the country make it hard to get a true picture of events on the ground. betty. greece agrees on a new series of eye watering cuts to secure yet another e.u. but brussels technocrats doubts it will be enough. and afghan president hamid karzai lashes out at nato forces for killing eight children in an aerial attack on wednesday the top stories this hour. international news incoming live from moscow this is all

a team with twenty four hours a day the u.n. says it plans to team up with the arab league and restart a monitoring mission in. conflict torn syria president assad's forces say they are conducting operations shelling several areas including the flashpoint city of homs but activists are accusing the government of a massacre saying hundreds of civilians have been killed over the past week something hard to verify and with conflicting opposition reports of casualties there are those who believe the figures are being manipulated to push a regime change agenda ati's other planets has this report. the syrian observatory for human rights syrian observatory for human rights theory an observatory for human rights it's one of the most widely quoted sources of syrian casualty figures but it's not always telling the truth and ownership the syrian observatory for human rights is left several media outlets quoting false information as to rivals find the same name the original group was hijacked.