The competition is organized under the auspices of
Senator Jiří Oberfalzer
Governor of the Central Bohemian Region Petra Pecková
Mayor of the municipality of Lety Barbora Tesařová
Prezident LAA Aleš Trtil
Ballooning can feed you or entertain you.
You want to have fun?
That’s what ultralight balloons are for.
Where will we compete?
The centre of the competition will be in the MMX Brewery in the village of Lety. There are several Lety breweries, ours is in the picturesque valley of the Berounka river, not far from Prague between Řevnice and Dobřichovice.
And which balloons do we want to compete with?
With ultralight balloons. These are balloons up to 1,200 cubic meters. They can carry one or two airmen.
Ultralight balloons
There are balloons that have been flying for several decades, but the category of Ultralight Balloons was only officially established in 2017. The Czech Republic was among the first to join this category of balloons. The amateur aviation association, then led by the legendary president Brzkovský, took them under its wing. The legal framework, guidelines for operation, training and construction were prepared by Jan Smrčka and Petr Kubíček. Both became the first pilots. The first balloon was created by Petr’s father Ales Kubicek in 1986 for the legendary, and also the first ever, pilot of gas and later hot air balloons Vrat’a Hlavaty. From him the balloon was bought by Honza Smrčka and because it met the regulations, it was included in the category. Petr Kubicek made two more balloons in his balloon company for his own purposes. Subsequently, Balony.cz bought another balloon and Mr. Pihrt ordered another one before completing his training. So currently we have a total of 5 balloons.
Where are we with the pilots? We’ve trained 9 pilots, so we’re up to 11 pilots today..
Ultralight Balloons are finding their place in the sun. Honza Smrčka is their enthusiastic promoter. What does he see as their biggest advantages? “I have a 40-year career as a balloon pilot, I flew as a professional for 30 years and this is pure relaxation, joy and well-being.” says Honza. “You learn to fly a balloon like this very quickly. It’s like riding a scooter. They’re hugely responsive and offer real freedom. Plus, they take you out of today’s hectic life. They’re really ultra light. They weigh in the order of tens of kilograms, they can fit into an SUV or garage. It’s pure joy,” confessed the aerialist.
The other undeniable advantage is that you can build the balloon yourself. That’s why there are designs flying around the world that really impress. It’s similar to minicar racing. So we’re looking forward to seeing what we can see in the air.
About comeptiton
There is competition in many things. Eating dumplings, for the tidiest sidewalk, but also for the most important state or the most beautiful woman. We decided to compete with a balloon.
How do you compete with a balloon? At first glance, you can’t, because the balloon goes where the wind blows. That’s profoundly true, but the wind blows at different heights in different directions and at different speeds. The balloonists understood this and the flight began to unfold more to their liking. The first balloon races were in distance flight. This was followed by target flights of about 20 kilometres. As the pilots got better, they got closer and closer to the target, until they got in each other’s way.
A solution was found. They were given a strip of cloth with a small weight, which they dropped where they wanted to mark their landing spot. So a protective area was created around the target, 250 metres in diameter, where you don’t land. This made it possible to eventually create multiple targets in a single flight. The possibility of multiple targets freed up room for the creativity of the organizers. Today there are over 20 types of objectives or disciplines available. They have names and some names are exotic: Submarine Sinking, Fox Hunt, Hesitant Waltz …
For us, these rules, which are for balloons with a flight time of 3 hours, are an inspiration. We are preparing a competition for balloons with a range of about 1 hour, and nobody has thought of competing with these balloons. We are learning how such a competition should look like, what are its rules and possibilities. So we are learning and finding our way. So although we have many questions and few answers, we will share some key answers with you. Others we hope to find together.
We organized the first two editions
Beginnings are hard and we’re past them. The organizing team has played and learned brand new things that none of us have done, and we have seen how others do it. We tried to cooperate with sponsors and we were glad that we kept the support of our patrons – Senator Jiri Oberfalzer, the Governor of the Central Bohemian Region Mrs. Peck, the Mayor of the Flight Mrs. Barbara Tesarova and the President of the Amateur Aviation Association Mr. Ales Trtil. We appreciate the continuous support of the municipality of Lety.
We are glad that the balloon take-offs were enjoyed by our spectators, who created a pleasant scenery of take-offs and enjoyed the smallest balloons. The cooperation with the locals is impeccable. People who come out of curiosity to see the balloon landing site help the pilot and are interested in this kind of balloons. Our team was completed by several volunteers who enjoyed the competition with us.
The 2025 edition will be held at the time we would like to make traditional – at the turn of April and May. If I talk about the next years I believe that we will be able to stabilize the sponsorship, the interest of pilots and the public and the balloons will become part of the color of Poberoun life.