Inflation Fan Customer Reviews

Posted by Ventry Solutions, Inc. on

Comments from Hot Air Balloon Pilots

Here are messages we have received from our valued hot air ballooning customers over the years who use Ventry Inflation Fans.


Photo taken by Christine Sarvien and shared courtesy Lau Laursen, Denmark.

Photo courtesy Lau Laursen, Denmark. Photo by Christine Sarvien.

From Lau Laursen, Luftskipper, Circus Balloon Club in Denmark:

Saturday morning I joined a balloon event in Långtora, Sweden. Ten balloons participated, and we had to inflate without shelter in strong winds. The only balloon with traditional skirt was mine [the rest used scoops which he explained make inflations a lot easier by helping to direct the wind into the envelope]... Anyway, I had no problems. My nice Ventry Fan kept the balloon nicely inflated without a lot of crew! Observe the very narrow mouth of the balloon, the fan direct the air only where it has to be :-)

Post-inlation, courtesy of Bill Woodhead

“Arky” in the air over Israel, courtesy of Bill Woodhead.

A Ventry 24GX200 was used to inflate this amazing 246,000 cubic foot Noah’s Ark hot air balloon before a flight in Israel.

“Everything went great in Israel. Your fan was able to inflate the ARKY balloon by itself. We use two eight HP inflator fans at home [28-inch]. I really liked the ability to elevate the fan to keep from blowing dirt or in the case of Israel sand into the balloon...” ~ Bill Woodhead

Pilot Ken Manning called to let us know he was happy with his new 24GX160 Ventry Fan, which he uses to inflate a 90,000 cubic foot FireFly brand balloon. He said that a friend had asked what size fan he’d gotten. When told it was only 5.5 horsepower (now rated 4.8 hp), the friend had asked...

“Why so small? What brand is it?”

“It’s a Ventry,” Ken had answered.

“Oh,” said the friend, “Then that’s no problem.”


“The Ventry 20-inch fan is just PERFECT for what I need in the way of power and compactness, [if that’s a word!] I still find the whole idea of carrying a complete ballooning package, including the inflation fan, in a little SUV like the Suzuki XL-7 is just a hoot.” ~ Gary and Brenda Palmer, South Dakota

Courtesy Mark Sand and the late Mike Bollea

Courtesy Mark Sand and the late Mike Bollea.

From an email conversation with Mark Sand, balloon pilot:

“It’s not hard singing the praises of a product you like. When I bought my VENTRY I was a total novice. It was just dumb luck that I ended up with a Ventry...[...]... Every time I’ve called you folks I was treated extremely well. I called last year to report a weld had broken on one of the handles. A friend had re-welded it for me and it’s fine now. John (I think) told me you had experienced some bad welds and said they would send out a replacement handle to me right away. I told him there was no need because I fixed it myself. He told me if there was EVER another problem like that, no matter how old the fan is, to let him know and he would make it right. How can you find fault with an outfit like that?” ~ Mark Sand


Doug Robertson inflates his 77,000 cf balloon using his 24-inch Honda GX200 Ventry Fan

Doug Robertson inflates his 77,000 cf balloon using his 24GX200 Ventry Inflation Fan

Congratulations to Doug Robertson! His photo was published in the FAA Balloon Flying Handbook.

“You have a great fan. I always get compliments at festivals from other pilots. The more other pilots know about it, the better it will be for everyone... Thanks for making such a unique great product for our industry.” ~ Doug Robertson, Tennessee

If you have a compliment, concern, or constructive criticism to share, please contact us. We appreciate hearing from you.

Other pages of our site that might be of interest:


Share this post