Gas ballooning as an adventure sport is likely to fade away in the US, as a sharp spike in helium prices and supply constraints threaten the survival of the sport, according to reports from Reuters and the New York Times.
Gas balloons, are mainly used by ballooning enthusiasts to set distance records, with flights lasting as long as two or three days. Unlike the more common hot-air balloons, which use propane as a fuel, gas balloons use helium or hydrogen for flights and in light of the constrained global helium situation, this past-time would appear to be under threat.
Hydrogen ballooning is almost non-existent in the US, due to the highly flammable nature of the gas, while a similar fate could be heading the way of helium ballooning if issues over supply & demand aren’t addressed rapidly enough.
“Price is just about to drive gas ballooning extinct in this country,” the New York Times quotes Andy Cayton as saying, an avid gas balloonist and retired army helicopter pilot who runs balloon rides in Georgia.
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