Piloting his Cameron R-550 Roziere, American adventurer Steve Fossett completed the first solo round-the-world flight by balloon. Travelling at speeds that occasionally exceeded 200 miles per hour For more information about Steve Fossett and his amazing voyage, Photo credits: Gamma
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To the surprise of many, especially in the media, Breitling Orbiter 3 moved southwest out of Switzerland crossing France and the Mediterranean before entering North Africa. “Surely this was the wrong way for a balloon to travel that was supposed to catch jet-stream winds that raced eastward?” Journalists queried? “Not at all”, responded the team managing the Flight Control Centre at Geneva Airport – a team that included pilots Brian Smith and John Albury, their better halves Cecilia and Debbie, plus BBAC Chief Observer Sue Tatford. “We are simply sending Breitling on a tour of launch sites used by unsuccessful round-the-world balloons.” While it was a joke, the balloon did pass close to Almeria in Spain (Cable and Wireless) and Marrakech, Morocco, (ICO/VirginGlobal). In fact the route was exactly the one planned by meteorologists While over Mali the pilots took the opportunity to remove four Sensors on the balloon reported that it was behaving perfectly India and Bangladesh were overflown without hitch. When the balloon crossed Burma Of course, there was still the problem of China ahead. Following a visit to Beijing Crossing the Pacific Ocean by balloon is not a trip that should be embarked upon Control Centre staff had another problem to think about. Should they move the Alan Noble, acting as Flight Director for the Breitling team, decided to gamble Should they continue their flight across the Atlantic? Fuel was adequate for And again, as forecast, they found the jet stream that would take them over the You are cleared to continue across the Atlantic.”, they were told from control.”We Before launch 19 days earlier Brian Jones had predicted a landing by the pyramids Having celebrated the successful completion of the round-the-world flight with So the greatest balloon flight in aviation history ended safely. The Cameron Roziere envelope with its insulating double skin had behaved perfectly
Reprinted with permission from Cameron Balloons Ltd., Bristol, England. © Cameron |
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The ultimate racing machine – the ZL-Racer is a thoroughbred specifically designed to give you the edge in competition. Based on the proven Z-type, its ultra smooth surface and streamlined profile enhance climb performance and directional stability. If you’re looking for a high-performance racer, this is it! Available in six volumes — 56, 60, 65, 70, 77, & 84 — the ZL is standard-equipped with a parachute top. Constructed from 24 gores that provide a super-smooth shape with zero horizontal stress, you can make your ZL even smoother by having it built with Cameron’s exclusive Kevron™ load tapes. |
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SPECIFICATIONS
Note:
Envelope standard weights include cordura carrying bag, scoop, and carabiners. |
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ENVELOPE STANDARD FEATURES
• Kevlar or stainless steel suspension cables. • Kevlar deflation line. • 58 inches of Nomex mouth panels. • Full Nomex Scoop on full systems. • Hyperlast™ parachute. • Mechanical advantage parachute pulley system. • Interior horizontal load tapes. • Fully tapered envelope panels for a smooth appearance. • Cameron’s exclusive “Loaded” Mouth™ that ensures efficient inflations. • Top tether capabilities • Heavy-duty cordura carry bag. • A fully transferable 6-year 350 hour warranty on Caliber™ fabric and 6 year 600 hours on field-proven Hyperlast™ fabric. (Both Caliber™ and Hyperlast™ fabrics are exclusive to Cameron Balloons and are made from quality DuPont 6,6 Nylon fibers). For standard features on all Cameron envelopes, please visit: Envelopes, Features * Nomex is a trademark of DuPont. Hyperlast™, LoadedMouth™, and Caliber™ are all trademarks of Cameron Balloons U.S. |
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ACCESSORIES
• Rotation Vents – Single or Double, with a choice of two types: Passenger or Alternative. • Additional Hyperlast™ panels in the upper region of the envelope • Prevent ™ |
Cameron Balloons Ltd. — our counterpart in the UK, recently performed the certification test flights for a Z-600 (600,000 cu.ft.) balloon. The enormous hot-air balloon was flown with sand ballast to replicate This solid red envelope was built for Magic Horizon in Egypt. The The envelope stands about 125 ft tall and 110 feet wide. It consumed |
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Here at Cameron Balloons we like to listen to our customers. We’ve had numerous requests to build solid floor baskets. Although we still prefer the added flexibility and shock-absorbency that an all-woven basket offers, we recognize that there are some environments where extra ruggedness of a solid floor model can be an advantage. In the spirit of ‘having your cake and eating it too’, we’ve Call the factory for pricing and availability. |
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Two Z-77’s have recently been constructed for the upcoming Super Bowl. One balloon features the NFL shield and Super Bowl XLII text along with two banners that feature the New England Patriots and New York Giants logo’s. The other balloon features the Super Bowl XLII logo and two banners which feature the New England Patriots and New York Giants helmets, after the game one team’s helmet will be removed and replaced with a Super Bowl Champions banner.
The balloons will be present at various events through out Super Bowl week in Phoenix, Arizona, operated by Kevin Flanagan and Marsha Treacy. |
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Under construction is a new special shape for Greenpeace. We are very excited to be building this representation of the Earth which will stand at over 76 ft tall and approximately 60 ft wide. Like all special shapes it will have a ‘larger than life’ presence at each event on its tour (despite being one .00014 % of life-size).Due for completion early this fall, look for the new Greenpeace balloon at venues around the US and beyond.
Exceptional Products Professional Service Impressive Savings |
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P.O. Box 3672 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 phone: (866) 423 6178 fax (866) 423 6179 www.cameronballoons.com
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You get what you don’t pay for |
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P.O. Box 3672 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 phone: (866) 423 6178 fax (866) 423 6179 www.cameronballoons.com
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Lorraine had been with us since the early days of Cameron Balloons, and was an exceptional seamstress. She joined us in May of 1985, before we moved into our current building. Many of our customers and dealers have had the pleasure of meeting and working with Lorraine. She was quite a character and was known for her love of Corvettes — particularly racing them. There was nothing she couldn’t figure out how to sew, from a difficult repair, to the most complex special shape, and she reveled in the thrill of the most challenging projects.
Lorraine had been hinting about retirement for some time, so we knew we could not keep her forever, but none of us expected her departure from Cameron Balloons to be so sudden. She came to work on Tuesday morning as normal, but within half an hour she was pale and not feeling well. We managed to convince her to let us take her to the Emergency Room at the U of M. After numerous tests and scans, she was diagnosed with an aortic dissection (a tearing of the aorta). Lorraine underwent a very lengthy and difficult surgery that lasted most of the day. Unfortunately the damage to her aorta proved to be too extensive and severe for the surgery to work, and she passed away about 11pm that night.
It is never easy to pass along news of a death, and it is particularly hard when that person has been part of your ‘family’ for 23 years. I had the pleasure of working with Lorraine for 15 of those years, and the time has gone by too quickly.
All of us here at the factory ask that you keep Lorraine and her family in your thoughts and prayers, and help us celebrate her life and her 23 years of contributions and dedication to the ‘Cameron family’.
Andy Baird
The company that hosts our website and email was offline for about 28 hours starting around noon on December 15th. Due to complications from some roof leaks at their facility, they had to move the servers to a new building, causing our site (and many others) to be offline.
The outage started shortly after noon on Tuesday the 15th and service was restored around 4pm on the 16th. If you sent email to us during this time, please re-send in case it was deleted from the mail queue by one of the servers.
Again, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.
We will be closed for the Holidays on December 25th and 26th, and also on January 1st and 2nd.
We are pleased to have recently built a Z-90 to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, and its upcoming release on BlueRay DVD. In addition to the famed ‘yellow brick road’ the balloon features inkjet artwork of the Ruby Slippers and of course Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin man, Cowardly Lion, and Toto.
Operated by Marsha Treacy of AeroSports, Inc., the balloon will be travelling to events throughout the country. (photos courtesy of AeroSports Inc.) |
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Made to promote the Disney/Pixar movie “UP”, Cameron Balloons recently produced this replica of the balloon shown in the movie. Actually it’s really 541 balloons, that’s one 84,000 cu. ft. hot air balloon and 540 tiny inflated appendages to resemble a cluster of toy helium balloons.
To complete the effect, the surface of the balloon was injet printed, and an inflated 3-D façade of the movie’s house was created to encapsulate the basket. This special shape balloon is being operated on its European tour by Andrew Holly’s ‘Exclusive Balloon Company’.
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Enter the Duo Chariot! Designed to be light-weight and fun to fly, the Duo Chariot allows you to share the freedom and pure joy of ‘hopper-style’ flying…with a passenger. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Every fall we make it easier on your wallet to buy the balloon of dreams. The idea is simple – if we can schedule our production efficiently over the winter, we pass those savings directly to you. It’s a win-win scenario.
Here’s how it works… We believe that buying a new Cameron should be as simple as flying one. By popular demand, we’re bringing back our simplest sale ever. One special that applies to any envelope. If you opt for a full system, the savings only get better. Why “limited edition”? Well – these specials won’t be around for long. Read on for full details… WANT FREE UPGADES? Here’s how it works. Buy any Envelope or System and we’ll give you free upgrades. Which upgrades you ask? That’s easy – you choose! How much free stuff? That’s easy too. Look at the gross lift of the balloon – we’ll give you one dollar per pound of gross lift** with wich to choose any upgrades you want. It’s easy – $1,800 for a 90, $2,100 for a 105 and so on – up to $4,200. IS IT LIMITED TO CERTAIN EVELOPES? No – you choose. Any envelope, any system. You choose the model, the size and the options. It couldn’t be easier than that. WANT MORE FREE UPGRADES? Still not satisfied with such an impressive offer? Well, order a full sytem and we’ll go one better. In addition we’ll give you a free upgrade to smooth leather, free cushion floor and free polyskids on the basket of your choice. Your basket will have that ‘put together’ look without leaving a hole in your wallet. THERE MUST BE A CATCH! There isn’t! However you can understand that we can’t give impressive savings like these to everyone, so these specials are limited in number. Make sure your order is one of the first dozen and you’ll save big on the options of your choice. It’s as simple as that. BUT HURRY… All good things must come to an end, so this offer expires on November 15th, 2009. Be one of the first 12 orders before the deadline, and you can schedule delivery as far out as April 15th 2010. Just think, you’ll have some money left in your pocket and the balloon of your dreams will be waiting for you when Spring comes. So go ahead, make your next balloon a Cameron – you’ll be glad you did. |
We are pleased to have recently built two balloons, a Bottle-105 & a Z-77, to promote the lightest beer from Budweiser – Select 55. At only 55 calories Select 55 is the lightest beer in the world and the marketing team at Anheuser-Busch saw the perfect association between their new light beer and lighter than air aircraft. When inflated the bottle stands over 160 ft. tall, which makes it over 200 times taller than the real thing, and nearly 7 times larger than the inkjet bottle pictured on the Z-77.
These balloons are operated by Renaissance Balloons, and being piloted on their summer tour by Phil Glebe and Gary Moore. (photos courtesy of Gary and Diana Moore) |
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The newest POW-MIA balloon (operated by Freedom Flight, Inc.) features 3-D artwork along with their traditional 2-D logo. The N-105 has 3-D appendages of the “POW-MIA” text on two sides, while the barbed wire artwork that wraps around the entire balloon is a combination of 2-D wire artwork and 26 3-D barbs. This is Freedom Flight Inc.’s fifth balloon and third Cameron.
The balloon made it’s maiden flight on January 22, 2011 in St. Cloud, MN on a typical Minnesota winter day that presented a launch time tempature of zero degrees farenheit.
The balloon will be present at various events through out the country.
Photo by Jerry Currey, Currey Photography.
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Two Z-77’s have recently been constructed for the upcoming Super Bowl in Dallas, TX. A red and silver balloon will represent the AFC and a navy and silver balloon will represent the NFC. Both balloons feature an inkjet printed Super Bowl XLV logo on one side. The AFC balloon will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers logo and the text “2010 AFC Champions”. The NFC balloon will have the Green Bay Packers logo and the text “2010 NFC Champions”. After the game the winning teams Conference Champions banner will be removed and replaced with a Super Bowl Champions banner.
The balloons will be present at various events through out Super Bowl week in Dallas, Texas. The balloons will be operated through the partnership of Aerosports, Inc. and THC Associates and will be piloted by Kevin Flanagan, Sean Askren, and Marsha Treacy. |
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P.O. Box 3672 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 phone: (866) 423 6178 fax (866) 423 6179 www.cameronballoons.com
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The newest addition to our envelope line up is the A-400. At 400,000 cubic feet, the A-400 is currently the largest certified envelope in the United States.
The balloon made it’s certification flight in March 2011 in Munith, MI and it’s maiden flight in April 2011 in California. |
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Sound the Alarm |
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It’s Time to Save! |
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P.O. Box 3672 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 phone: (866) 423 6178 fax (866) 423 6179 www.cameronballoons.com
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Cameron Balloons recently produced a Z-105 for the Broadway musical “Wicked“, this balloon will be used to promote the hit musical as it heads out on a new national tour.Featured on the balloon are two huge Wicked logos, flying monkeys, and the slogan “Defy Gravity”.
The balloon made it’s debut in Louisville, KY at the U.S. Bank Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Race. The balloon will be making appearances at various events and cities through out the country. The balloon is being operated on its US tour by Stan Hess’s ‘United States Hot Air Balloon Team’.
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We are thrilled to have recently built a Z-90, to promote Disney’s movie “Oz the Great and Powerful“. The balloon made it’s maiden flight in Perris, CA on February 10th, 2013. It then was a major focal point as it was tethered on Hollywood Blvd (see photo below) at the end of the green carpet during the Hollywood premiere of the movie. The balloon also “delivered” actor James Franco to Jimmy Kimmel Live later that same evening. From there the balloon made stops at Disneyland, the Daytona 500, HSN, and Central Park in New York City. The bright blue “Montgolfier” inspired balloon features three huge inkjet printed logos, red bunting, and a skirt complete with fringe and inkjet printed hashtag’s and premiere date.
The balloon is operated by Lighter than Air America, and is being piloted by Scott and Laurie Spencer. (photo courtesy of Lighter than Air America) (photo credit:
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Fall Special…
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Due to the recent severe storms and heat wave we lost power starting around 11 am on July 5th and again around 7:30 am July 6th.
The outage started around 11 am on Thursday the 5th and was restored mid afternoon only to lose power again around 7:30 am on Friday the 6th. Power was restored around 11am on the 6th.
If you tried to get in touch with us during this time, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.