Ultramagic (, ) is a manufacturer of hot air balloons, based at the Igualada-Òdena Aerodrome, province of
Barcelona,
Catalonia. It is the only manufacturer of hot air balloons in Spain, and the second largest in the world.
[Sky’s the Limit Ballooning Adventures, Southern California, PILOTS AND CREW ][El Periodico, Once meses en globo ] The company produces from 80 to 120 balloons per year, with 80% of them exported to
Europe,
North America,
South America,
Africa and Japan. The company can produce massive balloons, such as the N-500 that accommodates up to 27 persons in the basket. Ultramagic has also produced many balloons with special shapes, as well as cold air
inflatables.
Ultramagic is one of the organizers of the European Balloon Festival, the largest hot air balloon festival in Spain and in South Europe, held in Igualada since 1997 in the month of July, that includes competitions, exhibitions and a balloon glow. The festival gathers around 60 balloonists from Europe, and other countries such as Israel, India, Japan, Brazil and Argentina.
History
The company has its roots in 1978 when three friends, Josep Maria Lladó, aeronautical engineer and balloonist,
Joan Comellas and
Jaume Llansana,
[ África en globo. Persiguiendo a Julio Verne ] started to fly with a second-hand hot air balloon, and soon after decided to build a bigger balloon, named "Tramuntana",
[Infonomia, Ultramagic, por Ramon Bori (19/11/2003) ] for a long journey in
Africa, because they had not enough money to purchase an already manufactured balloon.
This journey took place 1980, lasting 11 months, with 40 balloon flights starting from
Zanzibar, going to
Tanzania,
Ruanda and part of
Zaire to finalize in
Kisangani, current Democratic Republic of the Congo. After that, they started to design an
ultralight aircraft and created the company
Ultramagic SA, together with Carles Lladó, brother of Josep Maria. Ultramagic Ultralights evolved to Ultramagic Balloons, because after building an ultralight prototype they saw it was complex, required lot of funds, lot of components had to be imported, and serial production was required to be profitable.
[Avui, Entrevista amb Josep M. Lladó, Enginyer aeronàutic, copropietari de Globus Ultramàgic ] On top of that, they had experience manufacturing balloons and they still had the sewing machines and an aeronautic background.
The company launched in 1993 a cold air inflatables division, with 4.000 units manufactured until today. Production of inflatables is around 500 units per year.
In 2006 Ultramagic sold a massive N-355 balloon to Virgin Balloon Flights, the UK's largest passenger carrying balloon company. This new balloon took of air and was able to carry a basket with up to 16 passengers.[Virgin Balloon Flights, Virgin Inflates fleet with Monster New Balloon ]
In year 2009, Ultramagic made the first official flight of the " Ecomagic", an eco-friendly hot air balloon, with a reduced consumption, developed together with the School of Aeronautic Engineering of Technische Universität Berlin. The textile fabric used by this balloon has a double layer to better isolate the hot air, thus reducing consumption and allowing longer flights. The Ecomagic consumption is less than 50% of a standard balloon, and can even reach a 30%.[Avui, Ultramagic dissenya un globus aerostàtic sostenible que consumeix la meitat d'energia ]
In 2013, it introduced the Ultramagic Flightpack, a new tablet application which gives balloon pilots all the information required for flight in one place.
Customer types
The hot air balloons produced by Ultramagic have three main types of customers:
-
Individuals, who use them to participate in competitions or festivals.
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Professionals, who use them in commercial flights and often have a sponsor.
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Companies, who use them in tourist flights in places such as Turkey, California, Egypt, Namibia, etc.
== Gallery of models ==
See also
-
Hot air balloon
-
European Balloon Festival
External links
