Navigating a balloon 900m in the air - this is Rita Becz's biggest passion. She's Hungary's best female hot air balloon pilot, has a degree in engineering and competes internationally against much better equipped opponents from wealthier countries. How will Rita fare at the World Hot Air Balloon Championship in her own country Hungary?
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00:00Hot air ballooning is not just a spectacle, it's a serious sport, and Rita Betz's greatest
00:08passion.
00:09It's incredible, you can feel the calmness and order from up here, so it gives me such
00:13a secure vision that everything will be okay.
00:16That's what it gives me when I fly.
00:19Rita Betz is Hungary's best female pilot, and she'll be competing at this year's World
00:24Championships in her home country.
00:27Rita and her team are setting a difficult course against competitors from wealthy nations.
00:33It's all about pushing my limits.
00:48Rita Betz doesn't hide her passion for hot air ballooning, as you can tell from her home.
00:54Someone once tried to count all the balloon items here, but lost count.
00:58Rita first got into hot air ballooning 30 years ago.
01:03A friend of mine first started talking about hot air ballooning, and I said I'd like to
01:07try it myself.
01:08There was no GPS-based technology, like this, to help us, so each team was assigned an observer
01:14to record the results, and that's how I did my first race.
01:17It became quite a love affair.
01:21She's an engineer by profession and teaches mathematics.
01:24She's now preparing for her first World Championships in her country, Hungary.
01:29In the city of Szeged, men and women will compete in the same category, but there are
01:34far fewer women pilots in hot air ballooning, with many choosing family life over sport.
01:40But Rita says she chose both.
01:42Fortunately, I included the family.
01:46Sometimes we went hang gliding with the baby in the stroller.
01:48I took her to a race with us in the bassinet, watched while my mom flew, or my mom came
01:53down to watch her while I flew.
01:55And when she was older, my mom would help and take care of the schoolwork.
02:02She has two daughters.
02:04One of them is also training to become a pilot.
02:07You can't take off in a hot air balloon alone.
02:09You need a team.
02:10Rita is assisted by her partner, Jozsef, who also has piloting experience.
02:15Jozsef helps with the technique, measuring the wind and driving between targets on the
02:20ground.
02:21I think Rita is a better pilot than I am, and that's why she should fly while I stay
02:27on the ground.
02:30I organize the finances, try to bring the money in while she flies.
02:37We spend it all on a common hobby, essentially burn it.
02:43Rita's home life is deeply connected to hot air ballooning.
02:47And it's not just her tattoo that proves it.
02:49She and Jozsef first met at an event.
02:52I met Majak's husband at a hot air balloon competition.
02:56After 20 years, we went our separate ways, but both continued ballooning.
03:00We had met Jozsef during that time.
03:02I asked him to help me out as a team member several times, and eventually we got together.
03:10It's not like only one half does it and the other half either goes along with it or not.
03:15I think it's like a disease, an infection, this flight that glues people together and
03:19we think in the same way.
03:25The team is not enough.
03:26You also need ideal conditions to take off.
03:29Some wind is needed.
03:31Too much is no good.
03:33Every take-off is preceded by intense preparations.
03:37Now we've just put the burner on.
03:39We're putting the gas pipes in here behind this cover so that they don't get in the way,
03:43so that they don't get stuck.
03:46Now a burner test.
03:54This balloon holds 4,000 cubic meters.
03:57We bought it second-hand in Austria and we can carry passengers with it.
04:02My racing balloon is like an opal that competes against jaguars.
04:06So it looks good and you can race with it to some extent, but there are other balloons
04:12that can ascend much faster.
04:19After blowing in 4,000 cubic meters of hot air, Rita is ready for take-off.
04:27Everything goes smoothly and a few minutes later the balloon is in the air.
04:36I have a fear of heights, but I don't feel it in the balloon.
04:40From the air everything seems different.
04:42There's a sense of calm, but only because Rita has things under control.
04:47She checks the wind data and the map on her tablets.
04:51Ballooning isn't cheap.
04:52A single flight costs more than 500 euros.
04:57Unfortunately for our own enjoyment, we can rarely afford to fly because it's expensive.
05:02Until we have a sponsor, we can't afford to do it regularly.
05:06So we really only fly competitively if we have passengers.
05:10Let's say the racing takes the money, the passengers can make some of it back.
05:16But at 900 meters it's not all about money.
05:20I think it's indescribable.
05:22The peace, really, when you don't have to heat it.
05:25It's quite different when you're flying just like that compared to a competition where
05:29you're concentrating on the task.
05:31Here you can enjoy the scenery, see what you can see from up there.
05:35It's quite different from down there.
05:39In SEGA, the preparations for the World Championships are already underway, a day before the official
05:45opening.
05:46Some of the competitors, including Rita and her newly recruited team, are going for a
05:50test run.
05:52They begin their take-off in the middle of the city, from a football pitch.
05:56As they inflate the balloon, locals watch with interest.
06:01Rita's balloon arrives safely at the agreed spot, five kilometers away.
06:05The team has done well.
06:09It's a new team and we needed to prepare for the World Cup.
06:12We delayed take-off until the last minute, but there wasn't much time to talk through
06:16tasks.
06:17We managed.
06:20It's five in the morning of the big day.
06:22The World Championship begins.
06:24130 of the world's best pilots are gathered for the briefing.
06:28The weather is overcast and the teams are waiting for the latest wind data.
06:33Finally, the pilots get ready, but the situation remains uncertain.
06:38If the flight was free, I'd go back to bed.
06:44The teams begin to gather, waiting for the race judges' final decision.
06:51But the weather intervenes.
06:54The weather is not right for the flight because it's already raining and there's strong wind
06:57up high, which is set to come down.
06:59We'll have 10 meter per second wind soon.
07:02That's just a part of it.
07:04The weather is better in the afternoon and the forecast is good.
07:09Teams start to unpack.
07:11They're so close together that sometimes the balloons are touching.
07:18More than 120 balloons take off.
07:21The pilots are supported by data from the ground.
07:28The data didn't come up?
07:29Coordinates are 26, 51, 29, 44.
07:33Jozsef makes measurements with balloons and transmits it to the sky.
07:38Technology is there for everyone, but a team from a wealthier country has a better option
07:42to collect data.
07:46We used to say it's 50% talent, 50% luck.
07:50You can fly precisely, but the wind might turn in the last 50 to 150 meters.
07:55Obviously, if you want a wind sensor measurement that is very accurate, you can use 10 to 15
08:00of those gadgets to get an accurate reading.
08:03That helps a lot.
08:04We use three probes, they use 15.
08:08It's just a question of money.
08:11Hesitant Waltz is the name of one of the tasks they have to perform in the air.
08:16The balloons don't race, but manoeuvre and perform challenges.
08:20Some of them involve throwing a marker from the balloon at targets on the ground.
08:28They also have to fly into certain areas, which are checked by officials using GPS data.
08:34They have multiple flights during the week, depending on the weather.
08:38Pilots get points for their performance each day and the pilot with the most points wins.
08:44Although it looks nice, the weather conditions proved tricky.
08:47In this sport too, climate change is having an impact.
08:51At a thousand feet, the wind stopped completely, so we didn't expect it to be that strong on
08:55the ground.
08:57It was almost stronger than any wind up there.
08:59The weather's not changing favourably.
09:01Very often the wind is still good at the ground level, but it's already stronger at tree level.
09:06It's not favourable and these thunderstorms and so on have become much more unpredictable.
09:13Regardless of the weather, the competition requires a lot of background work, not only
09:18from the pilots, but also from their teams.
09:21The balloons are heated with gas, which has to be refilled after each flight.
09:25The capabilities differ.
09:27Teams from Western Europe, North America or Asia often have newer and lighter equipment
09:32and larger teams.
09:35Rita's team is smaller but mightier.
09:37She's assisted by Shara, who is just about to go to university.
09:41They are one of the few female pilot-co-pilot pairs at the event.
09:45Shara plans to follow in Rita's footsteps and become a pilot herself.
09:51I watch the other balloons, so that Rita can keep an eye on the instruments.
09:56It's always the lower balloon that has priority, because you cannot see upwards.
10:02If someone starts to rise above us, we have to rise too, so that they don't hit us.
10:06If we want to descend, I check if someone is around us.
10:09I check the time, I look at the coordinates, things like that.
10:15After a quick sleep, back to the race.
10:17Another dawn, another briefing.
10:19The teams start to get ready in thick fog.
10:22As it lifts, the balloons can take off.
10:25Even in the air, the balloons almost touch.
10:29After a difficult start, everything goes smoothly in the sky and Rita has her best day at the
10:34World Championships.
10:36But the winds make navigation tricky once again.
10:39When you ascend, and then the others ascend smoothly, but then the wind pushes you out
10:43in the wrong direction, it doesn't help.
10:46Maybe my balloon has a different shape, or I don't heat it so much, because I'm trying
10:50to take care of it.
10:52Or maybe it's just bad luck, I don't know.
10:55But I don't feel that the luck factor is working for me yet.
11:02Due to the volatile weather conditions, only five of the ten planned flights could take
11:07place at the whole event.
11:09Rita finished fourth in the women's category at the World Championships.
11:16I'm not happy with my result, that's for sure.
11:19It wasn't easy flying between so many balloons, nor with my balloon.
11:22It required a lot of going up and down, very quickly.
11:26It was difficult to track so many balloons at once.
11:29I can't ignore them and not care about what might happen if we crash.
11:33But I moved up 117 places in the world rankings, so that's not a bad result.
11:41Although the World Championship is over, this sport remains an important part of Rita's
11:45life.
11:46Hot air ballooning is not only an unpredictable sport that always brings her something surprising,
11:52it's a passion that connects her with her family and friends.
11:56And a special way of life.
11:59It's good to pause for a moment to see where you've been.
12:02I'll only make it to Australia, for example, if the Women's World Championships are held
12:06there.
12:07I've been to America, Japan, and ballooning's what got me there.
12:11Despite the financial implications, through hot air ballooning Rita can explore the world
12:17from new heights.