TESTIMONIALS ON VENTRY FANS

Thanks to all of our customers who are so generous with their feedback. Here are some comments and anecdotes we have received. ~ Joan Neils, Communications

Pilot Ken Manning called recently to let us know he was happy with his new 24-inch GX160 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, 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.”

A 6.5 hp VENTRY GX200 was recently used to inflate this amazing 246,000 cf 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
(Click to enlarge photo at right which is courtesy of Bill Woodhead)

“We received and have been using your fan. We used it during several live fire training exercises and were impressed with its performance. Several of the firefighters commented on the lower level of noise and the increased air flow...” ~ Large Texas department involved in extensive PPV experiments measuring air flow, decibels, CO production, and air flow patterns. They later purchased several VENTRY Fans despite having quite a few brand new ones stockpiled of another manufacturer.

“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
(Photo at right courtest of Gary Palmer)

Congratulations to Gary and Brenda Palmer! Their photo, shown here, will be published in the FAA Balloon Flying Handbook which is now online (link opens in a new window).

A dealer recounted a story from his fire-fighter customers: They had been fighting a housefire in a 150-year-old home. They spent 6 hours trying to find the last remaining smolders. Finally, they pressurized using the VENTRY Fan and found it and put it out in 15 minutes. They were happy!

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

From a forum on firehouse.com: “There are a lot of things that are personal preference--Ford vs Chevy---Akron vs Elkhart (or TFT) -but generally they perform about the same---I found an exception on ppv fans, The ‘ventry’ type in my opinion stands head and shoulders above the rest... ” [Retrieved November 9, 2007 from forums.firehouse.com]

“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
(Click to enlarge photo at right which is courtesy of Doug)

Congratulations to Doug Robertson! His photo will be published in the FAA Balloon Flying Handbook which is now online (link opens in a new window).

An email from our dealer Ian Smith of Morrison Fire:

“Joan, I was doing a Turnout gear presentation at the North Fraser Fire Dept. last night and Chief Dekker told me that his Ventry fan is the best piece of fire equipment [for ventilation] he’s ever purchased. You set it up and walk into the smoky house and it just pushes the smoke and heat ahead of you.”