BalloonHeaven Facts

I touched my first balloon in 1987.

That was the Château de balleroy, it landed near the Wesselseweg in Barneveld. I still know what field :o).

The first balloonfestival I visited was the Ballonfiësta Barneveld.

I was born in the area so I grew up with the festival. My first memory was 1984 when we bought a goat and had to move it in the trunk of our car. We had to hold the goats head down so the police wouldn’t spot us. It was Ballonfiësta so a lot of police was on the road. In all those years of visiting I’ve only missed the Barneveld Ballonfiësta once (2000 we were in Bristol, UK).

My ballooncollection started with 2 postcards with pictures made by Ben Bläss (number 2 and 4 in the regular category). My collection contains postcards, pins, tradingcards, flyers, small models, books, piggybanks, newspaper articles and lots more.

I made my first flight in 1993 with the PH-PAK (pilot Alma Ruitenburg).

On my birthday in 2007 I got a piece of the fabric from the PH-PAK with the nametag and my certificate framed.

We’ve visited Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 2003, 2005 and 2009.

I’ve reached the 1000 postcards in 2008.

I have thousands of photo’s, analogue and digital of hot-air balloons.

I have made balloonflights in the Netherlands, USA and Switzerland.

BalloonHeaven Facts