He has been a constant participant in several international competitions all over the world, including the “Hot Air Balloon Championships" or the “Gordon Bennett Cup" race, has won the international mountain flight competition in Chateau d'Oex (Switzerland) four times and participated in all Italian championships since 1989. John Aimo holds the Italian hot air balloon records for altitude: 31,500 feet (9450 meters), and for flight duration: 9 hours and 15 minutes - which he established using the meteoblue trajectories.
Ballooning - more than most other sports - depends on the prevailing weather conditions. Generally, light winds, clear skies with a good visibility and no risk of rain or thunderstorms are ideal conditions for balloon flights. Unstable atmosphere, winds in higher altitudes and less predictable weather conditions make balloon flights risky or impossible. That's why pilots need detailed weather forecasts, to decide whether a balloon trip is possible, safe and where it will lead.
meteoblue provides several forecast tools for planning balloon flights:
- Trajectories show the air movement from a selected place throughout the following hours, for the selected altitude level
- The Stueve forecast diagram (which we have just upgraded) shows air temperature, moisture and wind at different altitudes, temperature inversions and more
- The Thermal forecast contains assembled graphs including detailed information about surface conditions, stability indices, lapse rate, humidity, clouds and winds
Check out the new Stueve with improved flight level indication and the Stueve 1000-550hPa for visual flights.
