Tom Sage
Goodbye Tom!
A tribute from Don Cameron
says...
After 38 years with
Cameron Balloons I
have decided that at the
age of 70 it is time to
retire. Not that I am
retiring from ballooning:
it’s been an important
part of my life for too
long, so you can still buy
me a drink in the bar at
meets!
Never in our
wildest imagination did
Don and I dream that
ballooning would be a
sport involving so many
when we first flew
Bristol Belle 40 years
ago. When Don founded
Cameron Balloons I
joined on a part time
basis, then becoming
full time as Sales
Director.
Later my role
changed from 100%
sales to about 50% sales
and 50% R&D, because
while Don was a
"boffin" he wasn’t a
marketing man and
couldn't see any reason
why a padded leather
top and Tom's flexirigids were needed on a
basket. And he thought
inflation fans would
never catch on! I could
and did, and in my job I
have always tried to
make certain that the
product was not only
I first met Tom Sage in 1966. The number of people
interested in balloons was small in those days, perhaps less
than twenty, and somehow we all managed to find each
other.
The British Balloon and Airship club had been founded with
Tom as member number 1. I don’t know if he was really the first
person to join, but I do know he was the
first membership secretary in charge of
handing out the numbers!
Together with five others we
took part in the Hot Air Group which built
the Bristol Belle, the first modern hot air
balloon in Western Europe. That balloon
made its first flight on 9th July 1967 at
Weston-on-the-Green airfield near Oxford.
On the 40th anniversary five members of
the group met again at the same spot and
Tom inflated and, to our surprise, flew
Bristol Belle across the airfield. It was the
first time that the balloon had flown for
perhaps 30 years!
When Cameron Balloons started
in 1969 Tom did some sales and other
work from his flat in London. I well
remember that flat near Paddington
Station because it enjoyed the great convenience of being directly
above the Golden Shalimar Indian Restaurant. Tom would entertain
his guests by having Indian food served at home.
engineered to a high
standard but it also
looked the part.
The biggest
breakthrough came
when I designed the
Mark 4 burner, doubling
the power of the old
Mark 3. And the
knowledge gained from
personally experiencing
the demanding flight
In 40 years Tom has filled almost all possible roles
and ground conditions
in balloon making including notably sales and
in places such as Africa
led to Cameron
product development.
becoming the
Eventually it seemed best that Tom move to Bristol, which
actually meant moving not just himself but his complete home. His
foremost
home by this time was a canal boat, and it needed a three-week
manufacturer of
voyage around the canal system, followed by a perilous sea passage
ride and safari
down the Severn estuary, to reach Bristol. He lived in this, with
balloons in the
various ups and downs, until he married Chris, who thought a proper
world.
house was a good idea.
In 40 years Tom has filled almost all possible roles in balloon
I'm sad to be
making
including
notably sales and product development. He
leaving
developed the characteristic Cameron square-coil burners, did most of
colleagues and
the work for the DP series of hot air airships, and is an
...he is one of
friends, but I
expert in fabric development. He was the first pilot of
the very few
lead a very full
the 30-person Heineken balloon with its double deck
human beings basket, and flew gas balloons over the Swiss Alps.
life and enjoy
who can wiggle
Tom tells me he won’t be bored in his retirement.
ballooning as
He
is
a churchwarden, is training to become a steam
their
ears!
much now as I
did when I started.
Best wishes to you all.
Tom.
engine driver, and has become a popular lecturer (about ballooning, of
course) on the cruise ship circuit.
Those who were children when he first joined will
remember that he is one of the very few human beings who can
wiggle their ears! But his
talents go a very long way
beyond that and they will be
sorely missed, although he
will still be with us from timeto-time as a consultant.
Goodbye Tom
and the very best of
luck. Don.
Cameron Balloons Ltd., St. John Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 4NH, UK. Tel: +44(0) 117 9637216 Fax: +44 (0) 117 9661168
email: [email protected] www.cameronballoons.co.uk
LORD OF
THE SKIES
Darth Vader, built by Cameron
for Benoit Lambert of Belgium.
Darth Vader image © Lucasfilms.
Improved New Dealers
After Sales Service
Order by 10.00,
dispatched same
day. Cameron’s After
Sales service has been
further strengthened with
the appointment of Colin
Wolstenholme as
departmental manager. The
existing highly experienced
team of Richard Bradley and
Andy Booth have also
moved their operation into
the Sales Department.
“We wanted to
integrate the repair and
inspection operations more
closely with the Sales
function to ensure that
customers receive seamless
good service.” Says
Managing Director Alan
Noble. “To enhance what
we know from customer
feedback is already seen as
first class support we’ve
asked Colin - well known in
the ballooning world as “Mr
Red Hat” - to use the
knowledge he has gained
from his many years of
selling balloons to fine tune
the operation”.
Colin added: “The
world of ballooning has
changed quite dramatically
during the last few years. In
the past if a pilot damaged
his balloon and couldn’t get
it repaired quickly he might
miss a weekend pleasure
flight. Today there is a 50%
chance that could be a ride
balloon and a significant loss
of revenue to the operator if
the craft is out of action for a
long period. So ride operator
or private pilot, my aim will
be to get repairs and
inspections undertaken in
the shortest possible time
and, subject to availability,
spares orders received before
10.00 will be dispatched the
same day.”
New Cameron dealers have
been appointed in Australia
and Colombia.
Aviones Publicitarios de
Colombia was founded in 1995. It’s
initial business was pulling banners
with small aeroplanes but general
manager Santiago
Ospina had always
wanted to extend
its operations and
it did this earlier
this year with the
purchase of two
AS-105 hot-air
airships from Cameron to promote
Bavaria beer’s Pilsen brand.
Santiago says: “The airships
have been a sensation in Colombia,
and we are planning to make lighterthan air in all its forms the new way of
advertising in Colombia.”
The company can be contacted by email at [email protected].
The telephone number is: +57 310
2333096 and the address: Calle 90 #
16 – 30 of. 202, Bogota.
Meanwhile in Australia Gary
Pask is now representing Cameron
from his office in Victoria. Make
contact with Gary by mail at PO Box
216, Eltham 3095; e-mail at
[email protected] or
telephone +61 0419 585 083.
Gary says he fell in love with
ballooning in 1994, became a
balloon pilot in 1995, was Vice
President of the Australian
Ballooning Federation in
1998/9 and took over the
position of President in 2000.
He is also an instructor and
examiner.
“We have produced a very
strong business plan and are seriously
committed to selling the
Cameron range of
products, aiming not only
at the private market but
also large balloons for the
ever growing ride business in Australia
and, of course, special shapes.”
The opening of the
Grand Lisboa casino
in Macau featured a
little bit of Cameron
magic. The building
takes the motif of a
lotus blossom and
the ceremony
featured inflatable
diamonds and pearls
(heliospheres)
provided through
our customer The
Dream Engine.
The Cameron CB3000
blimp built for Skyships has
a payload capability of 10kgs
and can fly up to 400ft
(120m) above ground level.
The tether cable consists of
Kevlar fibres for the load and
fibre optic and electrical
cores for data and power.
The winch, frame and water
ballast cans provide over
300kgs of ballast. It takes
under one minute to launch
or lower the aerostat to and
from its maximum altitude.
ICE
Integrated Camera
Envelope - is a free
flying aerobatic airship
with a built-in high
definition camera. It was
developed for live
broadcast applications by
Skyships and built by
Cameron Balloons.
The photograph
shows ICE at the Asian
Games in Doha, Qatar,
filming the track cycling.
5 Virgins!
The setting for the world hot-air airship championships
in 2008 will be the exciting Russian city of St. Petersburg.
To help ensure the championship runs
smoothly a “pre-worlds” practice was held in
the city.
Megafon, one of Russia’s largest
mobile phone operators, was the sponsor of
the event and here we see the pilot of their
airship skilfully trailing the nose line in the
water while keeping the huge craft dry!
An exhibition of photographs covering
his 40 years in ballooning were displayed by Tom Sage around the beautiful
gardens of St. Catherine’s Palace, one of the launch venues for the 31 balloons
that also attended the event.
Have Hopper, will travel
Virgin Balloon Flights have taken
delivery of five Cameron Z-350s.
New two piece luggage set from Cameron: for
The balloons are all identical, each
every discerning
being equipped with a 4.1 metre
Hopper owner!
double T partition basket and the
latest quad Stratus burner.
The balloons will operate
throughout the UK.
Virgin has also taken
delivery of 30 x 13 horsepower fans
from Cameron to update its fleet
ground equipment.
Three more of the special
shapes built by Cameron
during the first few months
of 2007. The condom was
for a customer in Holland,
the light bulb went to
Australia, and a fruit
grower in Belgium is now
the proud owner of a giant
strawberry.