VENTRY Fans Photo Gallery

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VENTRY INFLATION FAN PHOTOS: Pictures from Customers

Do you use a VENTRY Inflation Fan? If you have a photo or story to share, please send us an email! We owe big Thank Yous to our customers for sending us the following photos and allowing us to share them here.

Hot Air Ballooning - Photo courtesy of Doug Robertson

(Photo used with the permission of Doug Robertson)

Above: Doug Robertson inflates his 77,000 cf balloon using his 24-inch Honda GX200 VENTRY Fan. Balloons make for the most beautiful photographic subjects, don’t they?

Doug and his balloon - and his VENTRY Fan - are featured in an expose on YouTube! Click here to watch (it opens in a new window).

How do you get a hot air balloon and all the necessary equipment that goes with it -- including an inflation fan -- into a Volkswagen Beetle? Here is how pilot Jonathan R. Trappe does it. Click any photo for larger view.

Big thanks to Jonathan R Trappe for sharing these great photos.

(Photos used with permission of Jonathan R. Trappe.)

All that and room to spare for his lovely companion!

South Dakota balloonist Gary Palmer flies this Cloudhopper and uses a 20-inch VENTRY Inflation Fan. Here is his setup.

(Photo used with the permission of Gary Palmer)

Balloon setup photo courtesy of Gary Palmer

Oregon balloonist Bill Woodhead filled this 246,000 cf Noah's Ark Balloon using a 24-inch 6.5 hp VENTRY Fan. Here it is in the sky during its flight in Israel. More pictures of this amazing balloon (and its inflation) are on a separate page. (Click here).

(Photo used with the permission of Bill Woodhead)


(Photo used with the permission of Mike Bollea and Mark Sand)
Above: 24-inch VENTRY Fan with Honda GX160 engine beginning to inflate Mark Sand’s 88,000 cfm balloon. Thanks to Connecticut pilots Mike Bollea and Mark Sand for this picture, the one on the Inflation page, and the next three, as well as for their permission to share them here! Below: Excellent illustration of how far away to set the VENTRY Inflator Fan. Note: Always run VENTRY Fans with legs fully extended to get the most air, preserve your propeller, and keep your crew and balloon safe. We also recommend setting the fan back 1.5 times the diameter of the throat (or height of a doorway, as the case may be). For instance, if the throat is 10 feet, set the fan back 15. You can experiment, as Mark has, to find the ideal positioning for your balloon.
(Photo used with the permission of Mike Bollea and Mark Sand)

You can just barely see the VENTRY Fan in the lower right corner of this shot. (Photo used with the permission of Mike Bollea and Mark Sand)

Looking from the inside out at Mark Sand’s 24GX160 during inflation. (Photo used with the permission of Mike Bollea and Mark Sand)
Mike Bollea March 2, 2009: I have heard today of the very sad loss of our customer and friend, Mike Bollea. He and his mother succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning March 1 from what was probably a malfunctioning furnace in their home. This is very sad news. I knew Mike as a friendly, generous character who regularly lifted my spirits with his pictures, stories, and jokes. Mike loved to take pictures and generously shared many of them with us, brightening our day each time. Several of those appear on this page. Our thoughts are with Mike and his Mom, and with the many people they touched who suffer this great loss. ~ Joan

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