It Takes A Team Of 70 To Make Hot Air Balloons Safe. Here Is Why They're So Expensive

Hot-air balloons have been around for centuries. They're certified aircraft for those looking to take the slow and scenic route, but owning one can set you back considerably - 30,000 euros for a smaller balloon, and 150,000 euros for a larger one.
At Ultramagic Balloons, half the cost is attributed to the balloon itself, known as the envelope. It can take two months to complete a safe, quality envelope. And that's just the tip of the quality-control iceberg.
Ultramagic Balloons: ultramagic.com/
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It Takes a Team of 70 to Make Hot Air Balloons Safe. Here Is Why They’re So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider

[@frankchiedo4109]

i just love the voice of the presenter..so soothing

[@q_ayyah]

Thank you! ❤

[@headbanger1428]

@@q_ayyahWTH! No way! 😱 This is so cool 😂 Why don’t you tell us how you were cast? Have you worked in VO previously? Are you a journalist first? How many languages do you speak? So many questions, but your imprint on these mini-docs has such an impact, so… 😊

[@themedicalmarvels]

I don’t think anyone has ever thought a hot air balloon was cheap? As a matter of fact, never in my life have I wondered about the cost to purchase a hot air balloon.

[@kdm_entertainment]

Well now you know!

[@WorldCitizenW]

It was about 65 Euro for an hour tour in Cappadocia, Turkey. It's the most amazing site for the ride looking down at all the natural fairy chimneys

[@Doomemdtrader]

I've never thought of the cost either, but when they stated 30k-150k, I thought to myself "meh, that's not expensive". The cloth is not from what your t-shirt is made of, it is a special thing. It is also not just resistant to when it flies, but also when it grind on the ground if your landing wasn't that comfortable.The baskets and engine do not roll off a production line. If you buy a new Cessna 172 (small 2 seater airplane) you pay retail 400k. Sure, not everyone can afford a balloon, but I'd say if you think a second time on it, it isn't expensive.

[@Buttersausage]

Lol

[@ferretyluv]

Seriously. I’d be shocked if they cost less than tens of thousands of dollars.

[@jonash6070]

Wait, is that a giant wine bottle balloon I see there? 😂😂😂😂😂😂 1:02

[@misanthropically]

Look up the special shapes rodeos from the International Balloon Fiesta to see all the things made into hot air balloons each year.

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

I went on a balloon with a crew of 69. It crashed cause it takes a crew of 70 to fly safely.

[@pirobot668beta]

When I was a kid, hot-air balloon rides were a staple at the County Fair. I don't recall any horror stories about them, only that they stopped showing up with the Fair. A few years after that, the Fair itself faded into history...

[@dfpguitar]

The tethered type that just go up and down are far simpler than the kind that go on free flights.

[@TheIndyspace]

@dfpguitar 😂 That's a very interesting story...Just not at all true. The balloons are exactly alike, but for the tether. The pilot qualifications and experience are actually greater in the case of flying the tethered balloon...As with a 'free' balloon, the pilot has to hold a Commercial license, but also must receive additional instruction for flying the tethered balloon, *and* has to receive an additional Endorsement for flying on a tether. ✅️

[@kendisdai23]

"Once it's in the air, a tear would be catastrophic" YA THINK?

[@samamsterdam4301]

A small tear would be okay most likely. I've actually seen a balloon flying with a tear on the side and it was flapping as the air was escaping. He didn't even try to land but finished the flight with it flapping. It was about a 2 foot tear too. I was surprised. I'm sure he used more propane than usual though.

[@TojiFushigoroWasTaken]

there's actually an opening at the top to let out excess hot air while descent....so a single tear wont necessarily be fatal

[@smug_cat1]

I DON'T NEVER I ONLY COMMENT WITH OUT

[@doodskie999]

Costs have raised through the years I guess the price has ballooned

[@citibear57]

I wish I wasn't so afraid of going high in the sky, standing inside a glorified breadbasket hanging from a balloon 😮

[@boohere2]

It's ironic that this video was just uploaded and Business Insider. I say that because I just read about the hot air balloon crash that killed 4 people. It happened just recently. Like really recent (last week?). People had jumped off to go skydiving. Then there was remaining people that didn't go skydiving in the hot air balloon. 4 people died and 1 was critically injured. You can go read about it. Just type in: hot air balloon crash

[@A38]

​@@boohere2The really reassuring part about accidents like that is the number of motivated, safety focused individuals who come forward to help improve the industry. Thanks for your concern, you're clearly committed to the future of hot air balloons' success.

[@amnesiai]

Thanks for the video, it was really cool to learn how hot air balloons are made. Honestly, I thought a lot more of the production was done by machine or factory work. Much appreciated!

[@patwolf5134]

I loved ballooning in New Hampshire. Before GPS it was a great job to be on the chase crew just using radios.

[@patwolf5134]

I loved when a customer cancelled cause the owner would let members of the crew fly. It was so beautiful.

[@shotarosann3914]

3:37 that was not the person i was thinking of when i heard that voice

[@Rathbone_fan_account]

Dude same, she's kinda sus with that voice 💀

[@MADmosche]

Sounds like a dude

[@MrRizzo]

real asf

[@PaulJordan318]

If get the chance to fly. Do it. I can’t even put into words what it was like🥰. It’s a group effort to pull these flights off. A lot of behind-the-scenes work. Seeing hundreds of these balloons with my own eyes was moving🥰…

[@ricardorojas4057]

It looks like business is “taking off”!

[@1.4142]

No problem staying afloat in this market

[@Marrawi01]

very interesting always wanted to know how it was constructed as it was my dream still to ride one of these hopefully one day!

[@beverlylumley4150]

Informative video, thanks

[@sTEALtooth]

Just watched a video about climbing Everest...nope not doing that. Now after watching this video, I find myself again thinking, nope not doing that either 😉

[@geniphill]

Lmaoo I just finished mount everest video 10 mins ago and now just watched this too 😂 it’s 4AM in my country

[@boltonky]

Super interesting been up in a balloon a few times, but i did always question why they aren't required to have a safety parachute of some kind when its even quite common on small planes now (it doesn't need to keep you in air just slow your momentum down)

[@kasugasawa839]

I've never been this early for a so expensive video

[@demeter-the-great]

Damn anyone see that bottle-shaped balloon? Can’t even imagine the cost and complexity to get that unique shape flight-worthy. Incredible pieces of art and engineering!

[@Possum1312]

That engineer seems chill as hell :>

[@babyboo600]

i love the narrator so much !

[@q_ayyah]

Thank you! ❤

[@hellosunshine2826]

Looks so fun

[@AdamBechtol]

Neat to see the market is growing.

[@lilitharam44]

I remember them being popular in the 1980's, in fact some flew over our pasture and nearly scared my aunt's horses half to death. I haven't seen or thought about a hot air balloon in years, of course, I'm in the U.S.

[@andrewkamoha4666]

*99 Luftballons !!!!* - _NENA_

[@bripslag]

Very interesting video. Living most of my life in Albuquerque NM, which is known as the Hot Air Balloon Capitol of the World, I have been a crew member on numerous hot air balloon teams. I've worked on corporate and commercial balloons with up to 12-person baskets, but they were dwarfed by the huge basket shown in this video. I've never seen a basket that big. That basket and the balloon the goes with it are obviously designed for flying from much lower starting altitudes than we have in Albuquerque (roughly a mile above sea level).

[@dianaosei4871]

this is fascinating! I took a hot air balloon ride over Teotihuacan outside of Mexico City, and it's cool to see the BTS of them.

[@Donuts_random_stuff]

1:01 I’m willing to bet that guy in the back is also the guy that ruins family/group pictures with making funky faces

[@LeroyBrown]

I used to chase a guy with a hot air balloon, to pick him up to ride back to his truck. In exchange he was supposed to take me or friends of mine on a flight. I helped him three times and never was invited. I should have gotten a contract. Peoples words are worthless so often!

[@stoundingresults]

Just think of the karma he is going to get being up high in that ballon

[@KathySmith-vd7hk]

Shame on him! Anyone who helps me fly gets a ride!

[@v4riab1lity77]

The third time you should have sent an arrow through the envelope 😭😭

[@alopey_]

Adriana has a 'deep' voice 🤔😁

[@stoundingresults]

I learned from watching La Bamba movie ( only get on anything that flies being a new or powerful airplane.) Hot air ballons look like a gamble.

[@bakerkawesa]

The price is right considering it is something you fly in.

[@DeenaMilkers]

sounds like a lot of hot air to me

[@v4riab1lity77]

3:39 i don’t think anyone saw that one coming tbh

[@tigernguyen1380]

Utmost quality must be maintained lest there be a drop in business.

[@BabyCovid]

What an expensive death

[@stevenkidd6761]

Sounds like a godd hobby to get on top of. After it all goes, youll have a way to travel withought electronics.

[@gaveintothedarkness]

So glad to see something that deserves to be so expensive. So much of the "so expensive" is because it's dont the "traditional" way which takes way longer and often isnt all that much better than mass produced stuff.

[@clarityashtons4273]

I actually had a nightmare with a bunch of hot air balloons. 😂 The size of them really intimidates me for some reason. Seeing them in person would start an anxiety attack, but seeing them anywhere else is fine.

[@samamsterdam4301]

I love Balloons but I have a recuring dream where there are a bunch of them in the sky half deflated and on fire. Sometimes there are even explosions in my dreams. I wake-up pretty upset after these dreams.

[@oldschoolman1444]

I bet they have great company BBQ with those burners. How do you like it? Well done or chared?😊

[@ytty5183]

ALICE is what you seek. 🤔

[@vinoth06p656]

Voice volume is very low. Kindly increase it, please.

[@melodyparra2960]

Lot of money for something filled with hot air

[@Sjalabais]

Oh, that pun was a long time coming, alright.

[@andyscott5978]

Good video. Interesting to see how they’re made and they still use some old materials. But did anyone else think it was AI narration? Some of the pronunciation and intonation was a bit odd. Words like upright “up-right” and envelope “on-vell-ope” along with the intonation in some of the sentences just didn’t seem quite natural. Anyway, nice video thanks.

[@jamesguthro6219]

Homegirl got a homeboy voice

[@misanthropically]

If y'all like hot air balloons, the world's biggest gathering of them is every October in Albuquerque, NM. Look into the International Balloon Fiesta for the best reason to get up at 4 AM.

[@ILikeMyPrivacytbt]

Is there a reason the narrator keeps saying anvelope instead of envelope?

[@god_ynwa]

A lots of southern English say 'onvelope' too..... It makes my 'mustOche' itch and turns my 'squirts' into 'squits'. Im a northerner so I talk proper.

[@andyanderson2143]

The same reason she pronounces everything differently than you do. She has an accent. Everyone does, it's a matter of perspective.

[@ILikeMyPrivacytbt]

@@andyanderson2143 The accent should match the spelling, otherwise either your spelling words wrong or your saying words wrong. British people pronounce the letter a as ah so ahnvelope would be spelled anvelope. E is pronounced eh so ehnvelope would be spelled envelope and that is the correct spelling. She needs to fix her spelling or her accent, and spelling isn't likely to change. This is I try to speak in a transatlantic accent, I combine the best of both sides of the pond.

[@god_ynwa]

@@ILikeMyPrivacytbt I'm assuming Andy (above) is American as he told me to visit a Taco truck in order to understand what an accent is..... I support Liverpool FC 🤣😂 🤣 I bet the narrator never says 'onveloped'.

[@sactownism]

Don't know why people would risk their lives to fly in those balloons

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

It's probably safer than being a couch potato.

[@lukebroemmer3572]

It’s not remotely dangerous. The most dangerous things about a hot air balloon is the gas fan that inflates it on the ground.

[@florin26balalau]

Imagine one of those burners defective and leaking gas and not burning only when it gets inside the balloon and then the balloon catches fire I hope there's a parachute for the balloon they just didn't show that part 😂

[@ACloutToken]

i think hot air balloons are terrifying

[@elluisito000]

This video is full of hot air

[@globalislamicreminders]

I didn't think I can trust these people especially the seamstresses!

[@andyanderson2143]

Mini-skirts are made by Seamstresses. So I'd trust them with my life, no problem.

[@themedicalmarvels]

@@andyanderson2143 I’m so confused what one has to do with the other? What does mini-skirts have to do with trusting a seamstress with your life?

[@andyanderson2143]

@themedicalmarvels maybe the same skills that create mini skirts are also the skills that support your life a thousand feet in the air, i was just agreeing with the original commentor. Also, im sure you would agree it would make a fabulous plot point in an anime.

[@ricoh881227]

Until someone comes with better creations, hot air balloon will thrive.. Its about the novelty of air blowing into your face while sailing across majestic view, it is also why i think jetpack would thrive (if it ever happened in the future)... Liked a real miniature jetpacks for mass production..

[@shariqqi]

paramotoring

[@lucaswong7645]

imma steal it and go to space

[@jimv77]

We shall call you Balloon Boy....

[@andyanderson2143]

Couldn't take you past the surface of the atmosphere. If balloons could take you to space we wouldn't spend millions on rockets, would we.

[@auro1986]

can't your automated factories make them?

[@kaustubhraizada]

what about carbon fiber baloons

[@andyanderson2143]

Only if you wanted to make them unaffordable.

[@elnini415]

This girl spent 10 minutes stating the obvious

[@jimv77]

Hot Air Balloons are expensive because there is such a small demand and small supply, and they KNOW you have that priceless desire--thus they can rip you off!

[@altingashi3927]

Very good points

[@andyanderson2143]

The ven diagram of people that buy hot air ballons vs. people that stuggle afford to feed themselves looks something like the moon in the orbit of earth. Starving dudes can see the other through the seams in their cardboard boxes, and the floating flotsam gloss over the suffering beneath them because it spoils the veiw.

[@user255]

The basket is 30% of the price!? Maybe not the best idea to weave such complicate basket then. If there is metal frame anyway, then just put strong canvas around it.

[@louisazraels7072]

part tradition and part cushioning the impact of landing

[@user255]

@@louisazraels7072 There surely are better and cheaper solutions for cushioning. Tradition is poor reason for that, but seems to be the only one.

[@lukebroemmer3572]

A lot of the time the wicker is used for cushioning the impact but some companies do use canvas it it just not as safe in case of harder landings

[@andrewkamoha4666]

[Title] Why Hot Air Balloons Are So Expensive - "Why is Modern & Contemporary Art So Expensive?", _Contemporary Art Issue_ - "Why Is Apple So Expensive?", _The Cold Wire_

[@nikhileshmadapati8606]

Dr.stone ryusui

[@DHead5150]

Glamour project for empty people.

[@emorelix]

NO HOT AIT BALLOON IS SAFE.

[@DashCamera]

Fatality odds are high,liability insurance or any other form of compensation for those are more likely, so charges are, should “ so expensive “…

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Nonsense.

[@redbean9410]

whats up with Adriana's voice? was definitely an adrian before haha

[@davebutlarge7458]

i am going to eat this balloon.

[@louisazraels7072]

meh, like almost anything else presented this could cost a fraction of the price if mass produced, obviously most people don't want a hot air balloon, but at decent scale it would drop the price to probably below 15K, its a very simple product at its core, easy to automate most of it

[@velfad]

I doubt anyone will invest in mass producing these because it's not a mass product, it's a touristic industry tool useful in a few select areas only. Demand might be erratic and at some point market might become saturated

[@stunter2875]

Strange this is coming out a few days after multiple people were killed in a balloon accident.

[@A38]

Why? What's strange about it? This video could've been published at any time. We can still appreciate the engineering of a hot air balloon despite a couple of very unfortunate, very dead people. You're gonna be pissed when you find out James Cameron made a Hollywood film about one of the world's great tragedies!

[@velfad]

So what? lots of tourists died trying to climb Everest and still the Nepali sherpa industry is going nowhere any time soon. And HABs are hundreds if not thousands times less dangerous.

[@blaze556922]

Slow, ugly, expensive and dangerous. Who wouldn't want to sign up? Not to mention on those romantic getaways you'll have an operator less than 3 ft away from you at all times. You know, intimate...

[@mrtjbiga1784]

why is the narrator 's mouth so close to the mic? like nails on a chalk board

[@AshOnYT_T]

Why to even have these balloons, it's time to get rid of them

[@god_ynwa]

'Envelope' begins with an 'E' not an 'O'

[@andyanderson2143]

Maybe image people from different places speak differently? Called an accent. When it gets really extreme, it becomes a different language. Go outside. Find a taco truck.

[@god_ynwa]

@@andyanderson2143 Taco truck in England?? She is trying to talk in an upper class accent from the south of England. I'm a northerner living on the south coast so I hear 'onvelope' and 'mustOche' often and obviously both words are wrong. I'm very well versed in my own language.

[@andyanderson2143]

@god_ynwa "obviously both words are wrong"?? Language is an ever-evolving, dynamic, nimbus sort of concept, changing quick as the tide and is just as diverse. Accents are fluid and unique as the individual using them, dialects differ greatly amongst speakers of the same language, and languages themselve can be nearly unrecognizable from one another even though they share the same roots, like latin or greek. You are like a New Yorker telling a Bostonian who lived in Maine for a while that he's pronouncing whatever he's say "wrong", when really there is no "right". Are you wrong to do math by fractions or an abacus rather than by decimals? Or measure standard rather than metric? Or *gasp* pronounce it "aluminum" rather than "aluminium" even though both are historically accurate?

[@god_ynwa]

@@andyanderson2143 I didn't realise you had responded. I wasn't interested in maths so I cannot understand your last point. I was interested in words and deeply regret not taking my English teacher up on her offer to teach me Latin (life was still a nightmare). I understand the 'common' man having an accent and he will mispronounce words but not the supposed 'posh' people who are well educated. Boston..... Muyder? I like hearing that one. Aluminum as you yanks say makes me smile too.... Obviously it annoys me too because you missed the 'I' 🤣 'Posta' winds me up..... NY I guess it's probably just the posh people that piss me off. How old are you and which state do you live in? (I hope you don't mind my interest)

[@dirkd7510]

Its so expensive because people are willing to pay for it. If no one paid the asking price it would either go away or the price would be lower. People are not goin to continue performing a task to make money if they are not making money. These videos are dumb. Why is something so expensive, because stupid people pay for it. There is your answer.

[@Mus-Doc]

It's expensive because of supply and demand. If hot air balloons were as popular and common as cars they would be as cheap

[@basketballperson1350]

Next up on questions nobody had. New money yt channels desperate for content

[@ao4892]

That trans woman/man really freaked me out with that voice!