Hot Air Balloon Spotting Statistics

The community so far

Sightings

45

Balloons

33

Photos

4,169

Spotters

1

Days covered

23

Countries

3

Busiest day ever

01/04/2026

5 different balloons · 5 sightings · 1 spotter

When ballooning happens

Sightings by month

Sightings per calendar month over the last two years. Quiet months are included as zeroes.

Show the numbers

Period	Sightings
Nov 24	0
Dec 24	0
Jan 25	3
Feb 25	0
Mar 25	0
Apr 25	0
May 25	0
Jun 25	0
Jul 25	0
Aug 25	6
Sep 25	0
Oct 25	0
Nov 25	0
Dec 25	0
Jan 26	5
Feb 26	0
Mar 26	1
Apr 26	18
May 26	0
Jun 26	0
Jul 26	0
Aug 26	1
Sep 26	3
Oct 26	0

Community calendar

Sightings per day over the last twelve months. Days with none are absent rather than zero.

FewerMoreBusiest day: 5

Show the numbers

Day	Sightings
Sun 4 Jan 2026	5
Thu 5 Mar 2026	1
Fri 3 Apr 2026	5
Sat 4 Apr 2026	3
Mon 6 Apr 2026	1
Wed 8 Apr 2026	1
Mon 20 Apr 2026	3
Tue 21 Apr 2026	4
Wed 22 Apr 2026	1
Sun 9 Aug 2026	1
Sat 5 Sep 2026	1
Sun 6 Sep 2026	2

Time of day

Sightings by hour of local time. Ballooning is a dawn and dusk sport, so this should have two peaks.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
00	1
01	2
02	0
03	0
04	0
05	0
06	3
07	1
08	4
09	6
10	1
11	0
12	3
13	0
14	5
15	0
16	2
17	1
18	2
19	0
20	6
21	2
22	3
23	3

Season

Sightings by month of the year, all years combined.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Jan	9
Feb	0
Mar	1
Apr	18
May	0
Jun	1
Jul	4
Aug	9
Sep	3
Oct	0
Nov	0
Dec	0

Day of the week

Sightings by day of the week, Monday first.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Mon	4
Tue	6
Wed	9
Thu	3
Fri	7
Sat	8
Sun	8

The balloons

Most seen balloons

Balloons seen on the most distinct days. `days` counts local dates, `sightings` counts log entries.

Show the numbers

Name	Days
G-TEST	11
G-FFFF	2
G-SNKE	2
D-OGSC	1
G-ABCD	1
G-BLUE	1
G-CARS	1
G-CJEI	1
G-CJWY	1
G-CMFU	1

One-hit wonders

30

Balloons logged exactly once. Most recent first.

G-BLUE09/06/2026
D-OGSC09/06/2026
G-DAYS04/22/2026
G-ROOM04/21/2026
G-COMP04/21/2026
G-HALL04/21/2026
G-TIME04/20/2026
G-LOGD04/04/2026
G-HTRF04/04/2026
OO-HHG04/04/2026

Show the numbers

Name	Seen
G-BLUE	09/06/2026
D-OGSC	09/06/2026
G-DAYS	04/22/2026
G-ROOM	04/21/2026
G-COMP	04/21/2026
G-HALL	04/21/2026
G-TIME	04/20/2026
G-LOGD	04/04/2026
G-HTRF	04/04/2026
OO-HHG	04/04/2026

Newest arrivals

Balloons logged on this site for the first time most recently.

D-OGSC09/06/2026
G-BLUE09/06/2026
G-DAYS04/22/2026
G-COMP04/21/2026
G-HALL04/21/2026
G-ROOM04/21/2026
G-TIME04/20/2026
G-HTRF04/04/2026
G-LOGD04/04/2026
OO-HHG04/04/2026

Show the numbers

Name	First seen
D-OGSC	09/06/2026
G-BLUE	09/06/2026
G-DAYS	04/22/2026
G-COMP	04/21/2026
G-HALL	04/21/2026
G-ROOM	04/21/2026
G-TIME	04/20/2026
G-HTRF	04/04/2026
G-LOGD	04/04/2026
OO-HHG	04/04/2026

Missing in action

Balloons seen more than once but not for the longest time.

G-SNKE08/13/2025
G-FFFF04/20/2026
G-TEST09/05/2026

Show the numbers

Name	Last seen
G-SNKE	08/13/2025
G-FFFF	04/20/2026
G-TEST	09/05/2026

Manufacturers

Known for 21 of 33 balloons.

Show the numbers

Name	Balloons
CAMERON BALLOONS LTD	4
PIPER AIRCRAFT CORPORATION	4
ULTRAMAGIC SA	2
AV ROE AND CO LTD	1
BATE J	1
BRITISH AEROSPACE (COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT) LTD	1
BROWN FJ	1
HALL SD, HALL A AND HALL AJ	1
REIMS AVIATION SA	1
ROBINSON HELICOPTER CO INC	1
SA CENTRAIR	1
SHORT BROTHERS LTD	1

64% known

Shapes

Not shown yet — only 0 of 33 balloons have this recorded, and a chart of less than half the fleet would say more about what has been typed in than about ballooning.

Fleet age

Known for 20 of 33 balloons.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Balloons
1960–64	1
1970–74	2
1975–79	2
1980–84	3
1985–89	4
1990–94	1
1995–99	1
2015–19	2
2020–24	4

61% known

Fleet colours

Not shown yet — only 0 of 33 balloons have this recorded, and a chart of less than half the fleet would say more about what has been typed in than about ballooning.

Where

Top counties

Counties with the most public sightings, resolved through the geocode cache.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
South Gloucestershire	28
North Somerset	7
West Berkshire	6
Fulton County	1
Somerset	1

Top countries

Countries with the most public sightings.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
United Kingdom	42
Nederland	1
United States	1

Wind when spotting (mph)

Wind speed at the sighting, in bands. Based on 45 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
0–2	1
2–4	1
4–7	12
7–9	7
9–11	7
11–13	8
13–16	2
16–18	6
18–20	1

Calmest 2 mph · average 10 mph · windiest 18 mph. Gusts were recorded for 15 of them, averaging 6 mph above the wind and peaking at 32 mph.

Weather when spotting

Based on 45 of 45 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
Clear	21
Partially cloudy	18
Overcast	5
Rain, Overcast	1

Coldest -4°C · warmest 31°C · average 12°C · windiest 18 mph

The spotters

Spotters over time

People logging their first sighting, cumulatively by month.

Not enough history yet to draw a trend.

How they were seen

Sightings by balloon state — inflating, tethered or flying.

tethered23 · 51%
flying12 · 27%
envelope10 · 22%

Show the numbers

Category	Sightings
tethered	23
flying	12
envelope	10

What these numbers count

Public community data only. Private sightings, and photos attached to them, stay out of every total on this page — as does anything from an account that is banned or has never been activated. Photos are counted once each and only once moderation has approved them. Days and times are local to where each sighting was logged.