#GEMAB21 Ambassadors: Richard BOVELL – South Africa 🇿🇦
I am a hot air balloon pilot for 41 years and I have 1001 hours of flight experience. I travelled with hot air balloon across South Africa, USA, UK, France, Hungary. My philosophy in ballooning is to always have fun!
I know the Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons for 11 years, my first edition was in 2009. I like to come to Chambley because it is the best countryside, hospitality and arrangements for a mass ballooning event.
Being part of the first Great Line event and also at the World record event is my favorite moment, flying in the middle of all these balloons is absolutely awesome!! The Countryside is so vast that there are really no issues to be overly concerned about and there are plenty of landing spaces for everyone.
If you are a hot air balloon pilot and have never been to Chambley, just get there!!! Come in 2021!
My best anecdote about GEMAB happened in 2009: During my first visit, with the University of Edinburgh team at the old hangars, our crew drove the retrieve vehicle up and down the earth embankments in the mist one morning during pilots briefing. The officials didn’t take kindly to this and the crew had to make up by buying plenty of bottles of Champagne for the officials, so all was forgotten 🙂