Will Wood

William has been involved in ballooning ever since he was a twinkle in his father’s eye.

His father Chris, started his commercial operation the same year William was born in 1993. As a family they always kept up with the hobby side of the sport and practically every holiday was ballooning mainly abroad to mainland Europe, occasionally further afield to places such as Antigua.

William always knew that ballooning was going to play a big part in his life and in 2014 he gained his Private Licence and has been pushing himself ever since. In his first event he attended as P1 at Sackville, Bedford, he gained first prize in the altitude competition flying to just over 10,000 ft. In 2015 he won the Evening Post Long Distance Trophy from the Bristol Balloon Fiesta flying to Oxford. Later that year he flew with Stephanie Bareford to take second place in the Great British Long Jump flying 208 miles in 10 hours.

Although competition flying to targets is not in his blood entirely he has given it a dabble on a few occasions here and there. Finishing middle of the field at Grand Prix 3 in 2015 as his first ever event, gave him the confidence to progress and, in 2016 he competed alongside 4 other Junior Pilots at the World Junior Hot Air Balloon Championships in Lithuania.

He developed a strong passion for gas ballooning from his father also, and hopes to compete in the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race in years to come. 

The main drive for William’s participation in the sport of ballooning is the camaraderie created by people from different backgrounds and from all over the world coming together and enjoying our sport as one.