Annual Balloon Inspection

When the annual inspection is not undertaken, a balloon is not eligible to fly or be tethered. The same goes for its parts. When e.g. a burner is past its time validity, the whole system is grounded.

Attention has to be paid to both the year-long term and the number of hours flown.

The inspections can only be made by an an expert or organisation authorized by a local aviation authority.

Kubicek Balloons holds EASA CAO approval allowing us to perform all required maintenance tasks on any kind of hot air balloons.. We are happy to take care of your system as well as extend your Airworthiness certificate.

Documents

• Certificate of Airworthiness, ARC, Certificate of Registration, Form Ones, Fligh manual and Maintenance manual, balloon log-book, Insurance certificate.

Balloon

• Envelope, Basket, Burners, Fuel Cylinders, and scheduled equipment for which the inspection is neccessary according to its due dates. We recommend merging all the due dates of all balloon parts so that only one visit in a period is needed.

• We will review all documentation belonging to the balloon. We will make sure all of your Manuals are up to date and check the serial numbers of all your parts. We will review your logged flights in the log book and check if all of your AD are noted.
• We will examine the whole balloon system according to its Maintenance Manual. According to the condition of the system we will decide if a test-flight is required to examine flight performance and fuel consumption.
• We will examine the fabric condition. If its strength is uncertain, a sample will be taken for testing.
• The burner will be serviced according to the Maintenance Manual. Movable parts and valves will be cleaned, including the "whisper burner" and pilot flame. We will replace all used and worn sealing o-rings.
• We check completeness of the basket equipment.

• If you know of any damage to the balloon, please let us know in advance so that we can prepare any spare parts prior to your check in.
• Check the dates on your fuel hoses (it is printed on the rubber at the ends of the hose); hose lifetime is now set to 10 years.
• Check the due date of fuel cylinders (usually it is 10 years, though it also depends on the type; this can be found in the Maintenance Manual).
• Bring your fuel cylinders emptied out. If the tanks are damaged, we will have to repair them; this is when the tank needs to be empty. Otherwise we will have to empty it ourselves.