The Colorado Balloon Club (CBC) was created 47 years ago to promote hot-air and gas ballooning throughout the state of Colorado.
Our website is designed to serve as a resource for pilots, crew and enthusiasts to find more information about flying in the Denver/Ft Collins area and throughout Colorado. We invite you to browse our site, contact us with questions.
Colorado Hot Air Balloon Club
Frank E. Kafka (87) passed away November 7, 2020 in Denver, Colorado.
At age 53, Frank retired from IBM and began his second career as a commercial hot air balloon pilot. Ballooning took Norma and Frank to places around the country and the world. Over the years Frank held a number of positions in the Colorado Balloon Club including secretary, vice-president and president. He was a founding board member of the Chatfield Balloonport Association which created a permanent launch field at Chatfield State Park. He recruited other balloonists and initiated an annual tradition of giving rides to patients at Craig Hospital.
See the original article in the September 2021 issue of the Hot Air Flyer.
North Denver PZ KML File
This file includes those properties listed as a prohibited or sensitive zone on both the Erie and Frederick rally maps, and I’ve added a general “yellow zone” over the entirety of Boulder County given some of the issues balloons encounter when landing in BC Open Space.
Also listed on this map are a few spots marked blue, which indicates common launch sites. Please note that while Parkland Airport in Erie (noted blue on the map) is both balloon friendly and highly amenable to balloon launches, it requires permission and a form to be submitted prior to launching from there, and I’d be happy to help line you up with what you’d need to know for flying at Parkland. Most of you already know about getting your insurance on file with the town of Frederick if you choose to launch from Centennial park, but if you don’t, Michael Gianetti is the person to contact about that.
Jeff Buesing created a map file that includes all of the high voltage powerlines in the entire state of CO that highlights these lines on your hot air map in neon green. It’s strictly the high voltage lines so it won’t include the smaller lines. Chris Liberti has been using this for the last 6 weeks and it’s absolutely amazing. Highly recommend uploading this to your mapping software as well. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who may be regularly flying the area
