Eye in the Sky Over Balmoral Show

Aerostat flying over Balmoral Show Car Park

The SkyWatch A300 Aerostat flying over the Balmoral Show Car Park

Firmly tethered, the SkyWatch A300 Aerostat floated happily in the blue skies over Balmoral Show 2014 while tens of thousands of visitors enjoyed three days of agricultural displays and shopping.

Combined with over-flights by SkyWatch pilots in the Foxbat fixed wing aircraft, the aerostat, donated by local company Search Systems, provided a live feed of traffic updates around the site, making it easier for organisers and ground staff to manage queues, blockages and gates. Feeding video directly back to the control room or at longer range to ground crew with a radio relay, the aerial feedback trial proved both successful for the Balmoral Show and SkyWatch NI.

With flights covering a wide area in the morning during rush hour and the aerostat providing local imagery of the car parking and inroads, SkyWatch was able to provide invaluable feedback throughout the three day show.

Aerostat flying in the evening over Balmoral Show

Flying in the evening as families made their way home.

The balloon also proved popular with families and children, attracting a lot of attention and debate regarding it’s purpose. Most discussion centred around having a camera or being a weather balloon.

Other ideas put forward were having someone inside the balloon, which would be a lot of fun, but a balloon of this size (3.6 cubic metres) is only capable of lifting 1.5kgs.

An unexpected but very welcome use for the balloon also arose on the last day when people were finding it difficult to locate their cars. By photographing the car park and zooming into the images we could locate the occasional, distinctly coloured vehicle. Ultimately that job still remained most effective with the folks from EventSec on the ground who provided site security and parking management.

Come and See us at the Balmoral Show

SkyWatch will be providing aerial imagery to the Balmoral Show for 2014, assisting with traffic management and missing people.

Search Systems A300 Aerostat

Search Systems A300 Aerostat

Using a combination of fixed wing flights by our pilots and the continuous deployment of the new A300 Aerostat, kindly donated by Search Systems, we will be providing live aerial images throughout the show. With a secure, streaming live feed of video or thermal imagery, the organisers and assisting agencies will be able to maintain a permanent overview of the show grounds and surrounding access. The SkyWatch tent will also be there so come along and find out how you can join us to take part in future operations and assist with fund raising.

For more details and to book your tickets, go to http://www.balmoralshow.co.uk/