AERONAUTICA MILITARE BALLOON CUP

Three years ago, a new event was formed in northern Italy with the aim to create something unique: A balloon cup with both hot air and gas balloons competing together. Today, it is the most popular event of the year in the Piacenza region, both for the public and the pilots. The competition, launching from the San Damiano military airport south of Piacenza, features 16 gas and 16 hot air balloons as well as military aircrafts of all kinds and ages and the famous Italian aerobatics team Frecce Tricolori.

This year, we decided to visit the hot air side of things, and with three competition flights (Friday morning & afternoon & Saturday morning – we didn’t take it too serious though), we had a great time exploring the region from the air and on the ground. The gas balloons took off on Thursday afternoon already, and with a spectacular flight to Bronte, Sicily, Balthasar Wicki / Jens Berger won the distance race ahead of Anja Götte / Victoria Lebrun (landed north of Rome) and Sebastian Eimers / Nils Boelmann (landed in southern Tuscany).

Thank you to Aeronord Aerostati for a great organistion, as always! =)