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The Shire of Northam is currently in a PROHIBITED BURNING PERIOD as of 18th November 2023. All burning is strictly not allowed and all signs of smoke/fire should be reported to 000 immediately. For more information please click HERE.
People became more interested in powered flight with the invention of the aeroplane in 1903, and ballooning became less popular and faded into the background.
The revival of the hot air balloon was pioneered by an American, Ed Yost. He was commissioned by the American Air Force to come up with a lighter than air lifting device for military application. Yost had made tethered flights in 1955 using a balloon made from plastic film and burning kerosene. Ballooning became popular again after Yost made the first free flight of a modern hot air balloon in 1960, he developed the propane burner (resulting in a controllable and economical method of heating air inside the balloon), using light weight fabrics. This was the beginning of the modern hot air balloon which quickly emerged as a new and popular sport around the world.
Hot air ballooning came to Northam in April 1977 when members of the Hong Kong Balloon and Airship Club were looking for a location to set altitude, distance and duration records for hot air balloons. Northam was chosen as their preferred site to set these records because it was within close proximity to Perth, one of their regular flight destinations and offered a sheltered valley perfect for ballooning with open farmland being ideal for safe landings.
In August 1980 the Western Australian Balloon and Airship Club (WABAC) was created. WABAC along with the Northam Aero Club jointly organised to host two National Ballooning Championships at Northam in 1981 and 1984. The National Ballooning Championships were then hosted again in Northam in 2015 and 2017.
Since 1977 there has been a number of significant hot air ballooning records which were achieved at or from Northam.
The Shire of Northam would like to acknowledge the achievement of the hot air ballooning pilots listed below:
Aug 1977
Geoff Green
World altitude AX-6
Charlie O-56
Oct 1978
Sabu Ichiyoshi
Japan altitude, distance
Cathay III O-84
Ron Taaffe
Australian altitude
Shell O-56
Aug 1982
World altitude, distance, duration
San Miguel airship D-38
Aug 1980
Paul Gianniotis
World distance AX-4
Sprite O-31
Australian duration AX-4
Gren Putland
Australian altitude AX-4
Sept 1980
World distance
Sultan III A-140
Adrian Clements
Australian distance
Sept 1982
Geoff Tetlow
Australian duration
San Miguel O-375
June 1994
Michio Kanda
World distance AX10-14
Mambo N-210 D/S
Chikatsu Kakinuma
July 1995
Kei-ichi Kojima
World duration AX-5
N-42 D/S
Sept 1995
Maco Oiwa
World duration AX10-14
Sabu Ichiyosh
Aug 1997
Toshiko Ichiyoshi
World distance, duration womens AX-6
Wombat N-56
World duration AX-6
2001
Steve Fossett
World duration
Solo Spirit R-550
June 2002
World distance, duration, RTW speed
Spirit of Freedom R-550
July 2016
Fedor Konyukhov
World distance, RTW speed
Morton R-550