How do you get where you want to go in a hot air balloon? (Aren’t you at the mercy of the wind).

Question

The classic hot air balloon with the round balloon and gas burner thing. It’s easy to see how it goes up or down, but how do people go where they want to – or get back!

In: 4072

Answer 1

The coriolis effect makes wind direction change with altitude fairly predictable. Wind is pushed to the right or left (depending on the hemisphere youre in) because of the rotation of the earth. When you’re at lower altitude wind flows more slowly due to friction with the surface, and the slower the wind the less the rotation of the earth curves its path.

So you “turn” by climbing or descending.