Controls

Space	Main burner (hold) – heats the envelope
W	Whisper burner (hold) – quieter, weaker, for flying over cattle
V	Parachute vent (hold) – lets hot air out of the crown; hold on the ground to deflate
Q E	Rotation vents – turn the basket
P	Release a pilot balloon (pibal) to read the wind layers
F	Switch fuel tank
C	Change view: basket, chase, ground crew
Tab	Map
T	Time warp ×1 / ×2 / ×4 / ×8 (only higher than 300 ft)
Mouse drag, arrows	Look around · wheel: zoom (chase view)
H · Esc	Hide the HUD · pause

Flying a hot air balloon

Heat is lift. The envelope holds 2,550 m³ of air. Hotter air inside is lighter than the air around it; the difference carries you, the basket, the burner and the fuel. One second of burner adds about one degree.

Everything is slow. After a burn it takes 15–30 seconds before the balloon really climbs, and a climb continues for a while after you stop. Watch the variometer and think ahead – the faint marker on the vario bar shows where your climb rate is heading (training aid).

Level flight needs short burns of 1–3 seconds every 10–20 seconds. Without burning, the envelope cools and you start to sink.

Steering is impossible – but the wind turns with height. Change altitude to find the layer that takes you where you want to go. The wind table on the left shows what you and your pilot balloons have measured.

Landing: descend at 200–400 ft/min, burn early to slow down so you touch down at under 300 ft/min, then hold the parachute vent to deflate. Meadows and mown fields are best; crops are not. Stay close to a road for the retrieve crew.

Dangers: power lines (the cables are hard to see – the red warning helps), wind turbines, trees and water. The envelope must not get hotter than 120 °C at the crown.

Training and free flight: pass the training flight once and you have completed First Light. After that every free flight is yours: any launch field, sunrise or evening, box winds, passengers and other balloons.