Questacon Balloon


You can ride the Questacon balloon on an early morning flight over Canberra, or book it for tethered daytime rides for students (and teachers) at your school!



About the balloon

Here are some interesting facts and figures about the balloon:

  • The Questacon balloon is one of the largest of the passenger balloons flying over Canberra and can carry up to 20 passengers and crew.
  • The Questacon balloon was made in Sydney, Australia.
  • It is as high as an 8 story building.
  • The envelope volume is 350 000 cubic feet (9900 m3) and contains about 9000 kg of air.
  • When heated to 100°C the balloon envelope will lift three tonnes.
  • The envelope is constructed from over 6000 m2 of high temperature nylon fabric and it weighs over 350 kg.
  • The balloon can operate at a range of altitudes from sea level to 40 000 ft but will generally not exceed 4000 ft (1220 m) over Canberra.

More information

The balloon is managed and flown by Balloon Aloft Canberra. You can contact them on 02 6285 1540, or via info@canberraballoons.com.au.

Balloon Aloft also have their own website: http://www.canberraballoons.com.au/.

How Stuff Works have a great ballooning resource: http://science.howstuffworks.com/hot-air-balloon.htm.

Note that we have used imperial units in this article to reflect worldwide aviation standards.