Philippe Buron-Pilâtre’s Blog

Founder at Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons

Pilatre de Rozier Organisation’s

Grand est Mondial Air Ballons Organizer

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The last post

The last post

It's no secret that the last and 18th edition of GEMAB will have no successor. We're going to keep the website dedicated to the event so that it can...

Time to review

Time to review

Once the event is over, it's time to review. Whether they be financial, technical, aeronautical, commercial or other, they enable us to draw up a...

The pilot’s jacket in the hit parade

The pilot’s jacket in the hit parade

Since the 1990's, the Pilâtre de Rozier organization has been offering pilots registered for the GEMAB a beautiful multi-pocket pilot jacket,...

News and fake news

News and fake news

Following the GEMAB withdrawal announcement by Philippe Buron Pilâtre and Aline Dufour, many comments have been made. But the saddest thing is the...

Dismantling in the rain

Dismantling in the rain

What's better: set-up in the rain or dismantling in the rain? The former lasts a month, the latter a week. On the other hand, during the finale, the...

Five flights out of 7

Five flights out of 7

On Monday evening, the pilots were able to complete the 5th of seven flights. Two flights had to be cancelled due to strong winds. It wasn't easy...

All hands on deck

All hands on deck

To move an army forward, you need three things, said Napoleon: reward your soldiers, feed them and provide them with accommodation. With this in...

Over 700 pilots for the 2023 event

Over 700 pilots for the 2023 event

More than 700 pilots from 50 nations will gather at Chambley airfield from July 21 to 30. That's just over 500 balloons in all shapes and colors. As...

Work gets underway

Work gets underway

Two days ahead of schedule, the first preparations for #GEMAB23 got underway on Saturday, June 24, in bright sunshine. By Monday, some 40 people...

The pilots’ parade: a must

The pilots’ parade: a must

Every evening, as the pilots enter the runway, the music of the pilots' parade begins. It's both the history of the Mondial and the history of...

Organizing an international event

Organizing an international event

What's the hardest thing about organizing a Mondial Air Ballons? The time you have to devote to it: 22 months for a small team of ten people....

Latecomers to the call

Latecomers to the call

Hot-air balloon pilots, especially French ones, are always the last to register. Not to mention the local pilots. In their defense, we've always...

After official forms, meetings

After official forms, meetings

The modern world can't help wanting everything to be controlled, analyzed and coded. That's why the administration develops official forms, Excel...

Why did you choose these dates for GEMAB

Why did you choose these dates for GEMAB

Since 1989, the dates of the GEMAB are almost identical. The last week of July and sometimes a few days in August. But in 2023, it was necessary to...

The #GEMAB 23 is also a competition

The #GEMAB 23 is also a competition

Even if it does not have the same value as a national or world championship, to enter the Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons Trophy ranking is an...

Mandatory presence at the briefing

Mandatory presence at the briefing

Twice a day, at dawn and at the end of the day, the pilots are invited to the general briefing. It is compulsory and the pilots must even deposit a...

Nearly 1,000 from over a dozen countries

Nearly 1,000 from over a dozen countries

They are between 16 and 80 years old. They are American, American Indian, Belgian, German, Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian, English, French, Polish,...

What’s new in BallonVille Pilote

What’s new in BallonVille Pilote

At each edition, the organization of the #GEMAB tries to innovate. This year, for the first time, the morning and evening pre-flight briefing will...

The Bonnard plan: the revelation

The Bonnard plan: the revelation

Designed almost two decades ago, the so-called Bonnard blueprint is the map that you find on all flyers, billboards, roadbooks and others. It shows...

30 years in Chambley

30 years in Chambley

It is difficult to realize that the Mondial has been held in Chambley for 30 years. Even more incredible to remember that the first Pilâtre de...

The retroplanning is confirmed

The retroplanning is confirmed

Even if the preparation of an event such as GEMAB starts almost 20 months beforehand, the last months are always tense. All the plans that have been...

The 5 golden tickets have been won

The 5 golden tickets have been won

Germans and French share the 5 golden tickets that allow the winning pilots to enter the GEMAB with a privileged status. This is the first time that...

The organization team is being formed

The organization team is being formed

Apart from the permanent team of ten people who prepare the #GEMAB event all year round, nearly 200 volunteers from eleven countries will join this...

A special AeroFil for pilots

A special AeroFil for pilots

Pilots all over the world will soon receive a special issue of our newspaper #AeroFil. It contains a lot of information about the future edition of...

Salute of our German ambassador

Salute of our German ambassador

Surprise on Friday with the lightning passage of the father of our German ambassador Wilhelm Eimers, new president of the german balloon federation,...

Soon the arrival of a new collection

Soon the arrival of a new collection

This year, we will find the famous cap embroidered with the colors of the event, the teddy, the tee shirt, the polo, the shirts. The color is still...

The madness of the pins

The madness of the pins

In the 1990s, the craze in the ballooning community was the pin. In gilded or silver metal, or plastic. In general, each pilot had a badge made with...

They chose to camp on site

They chose to camp on site

Many pilots dream of finding a place to stay close to the site. A few editions ago the organization decided to create a place on the site where the...

Each edition is highly publicized

Each edition is highly publicized

Since the beginning, the GEMAB has had a daily bilingual newspaper which reports the small news of the event field. It has been completed by a radio...

On this first day of the year

On this first day of the year

With an excellent average of 14 flights out of 19 scheduled for each edition, we can say more than 30 years after the creation of the event, that...

Balloonists looking for accommodation

Balloonists looking for accommodation

For several editions, pilots and their crews prefer to stay near the airfield because the nights are short on the #GEMAB. In twenty years, the...

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