Dear Friend,
Some people could look around an SR-71 Blackbird or B2 Spirit stealth plane and not be moved. 
Me, I still love the majesty of even a single balloon defying gravity. IF you’re somewhere my side of in the middle – you’re on the right page.
Hi, this is Peter Gray,
I was always fascinated by aeroplanes, or rather flying objects… aircraft: It didn’t really matter whether they had wings, rotor blades, ‘gas bags’ or burners and I’d probably be keen to publish the first enthusiasts guide to officially acknowledged UFO’s – but then, wouldn’t that be a conflict in terms?
Whatever – from taking loads of photographs at the airshows my parents would treat me to, through producing registers of British Balloons to sell to friends, then being co-opted into compiling authoritative lists for the – then new - Balloon & Airships magazine, this predilection has evolved into organising balloon meets and running support services for others along with selling postcards, photographs, memorabilia – and – um – CD’s – Which is what this is about!
The book version of the registers has been going for (please read this quietly, it makes me feel old) eighteen years - but one of the limitations has always been that there’s no economic way they could include pictures or additional background stuff.
Then along came these little plastic spinny things… Great for music, but – whilst it might have been obvious to you - it took a while and a nudge from a friend before I really ‘got it’ that they could be pretty useful… So, with interactive lists, pictures and plenty of space for all sorts of related extras – the CD version got launched in 2003.
Last year the list was expanded beyond the British & Irish borders but remained limited to being used with Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Now in it's seventh year, the software and format has been re-written so that it will work with pretty much any browser, and for the first time we are able to offer it personalised – just for you – or someone you might want to give one to a copy.
If you are enthralled by balloons, interested in who owns and operates them, like to know where they come from, who built those you've seen or look back on the pictures then…
Normally we charge £1.75 P&P in the UK or the equivalent of £2.75 overseas, but until October, we'll cover this at our expense.
If - as a long term or new balloonist or enthusiast you have information or pictures of balloons or airships we've missed, your disk includes a deal for sharing those with us.
Thanks and best wishes,
Peter.