Ultramagic (, ) is a manufacturer of

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

s, based at the Igualada-Òdena Aerodrome, province of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It is the only manufacturer of hot air balloons in Spain, and the second largest in the world.El Periodico
Once meses en globo
The company produces from 80 to 120 balloons per year, with 80% of them exported to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and Japan. The company can produce massive balloons, such as the N-500 that accommodates up to 27 persons in the basket. Ultramagic has also produced many balloons with special shapes, as well as cold air inflatables. Ultramagic is one of the organizers of the European Balloon Festival, the largest

hot air balloon festival Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities.They can include races; evening "night glows", ...

in Spain and in South Europe, held in Igualada since 1997 in the month of July, that includes competitions, exhibitions and a night glow. The festival gathers around 60 balloonists from Europe, and other countries such as Israel, India, Japan,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

History

The company has its roots in 1978 when three friends, Josep Maria Lladó, aeronautical engineer and balloonist, Joan Comellas and Jaume Llansana,África en globo. Persiguiendo a Julio Verne
started to fly with a second-hand hot air balloon, and soon after decided to build a bigger balloon, named "Tramuntana",Infonomia
Ultramagic, por Ramon Bori (19/11/2003)
for a long journey in

, because they had not enough money to purchase an already manufactured balloon. This journey took place 1980, lasting 11 months, with 40 balloon flights starting from

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

, going to

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, Ruanda and part of

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

to finalize in

Kisangani Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...

, current

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. After that, they started to design an

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

aircraft and created the company Ultramagic SA, together with Carles Lladó, brother of Josep Maria. Ultramagic Ultralights evolved to Ultramagic Balloons, because after building an ultralight prototype they saw it was complex, required lot of funds, lot of components had to be imported, and serial production was required to be profitable.Avui
Entrevista amb Josep M. Lladó, Enginyer aeronàutic, copropietari de Globus Ultramàgic
On top of that, they had experience manufacturing balloons and they still had the sewing machines and an aeronautic background. The company launched in 1993 a cold air inflatables division, with 4.000 units manufactured until today. Production of inflatables is around 500 units per year. In 2006 Ultramagic sold a massive N-355 balloon to Virgin Balloon Flights, the UK's largest passenger carrying balloon company. This new balloon took of air and was able to carry a basket with up to 16 passengers.Virgin Balloon Flights
Virgin Inflates fleet with Monster New Balloon
In year 2009, Ultramagic made the first official flight of the "''Ecomagic''", an

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

hot air balloon, with a reduced consumption, developed together with the School of Aeronautic Engineering of

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

. The textile fabric used by this balloon has a double layer to better isolate the hot air, thus reducing consumption and allowing longer flights. The Ecomagic consumption is less than 50% of a standard balloon, and can even reach a 30%.Avui
Ultramagic dissenya un globus aerostàtic sostenible que consumeix la meitat d'energia
In 2013, it introduced the Ultramagic Flightpack, a new tablet application which gives balloon pilots all the information required for flight in one place.

Customer types

The hot air balloons produced by Ultramagic have three main types of customers: * Individuals, who use them to participate in competitions or festivals. * Professionals, who use them in commercial flights and often have a sponsor. * Companies, who use them in tourist flights in places such as

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, etc.

Gallery of models

File:Ultramagic Kon-tiki.jpg, Ultramagic M-77 (volume of 2.200 m³, for 3 or 4 persons) File:Tucson Balloon Landing.jpg, Ultramagic M-105 (3.000 m³, 5 persons), registered in the United States File:Ultramagic M-120 (D-OGSV) 03.jpg, Ultramagic M-120 (3.400 m³, 5 or 6 persons) File:HB QSN 01.JPG, Ultramagic M-130 (3.680 m³, 6 persons), registered in Switzerland File:Vista superior del globus.JPG, Ultramagic N-180 (5.100 m³, 9 persons) File:LuchtballonvaartoverMasCadavall.jpg, Ultramagic N-210 (6,000 m³, 11 persons) File:Ultramagic (D-OMKP) 03.jpg, Ultramagic N-210 (6,000 m³, 11 persons) File:2007-07-13HeißluftballonWarsteiner02.jpg, Ultramagic N-355 (10,000 m³, 20 persons)

References

External links

Ultramagic official websiteUltramagic UK websiteEuropean Balloon Festival official website
{{coord, 41.587285, N, 1.652808, E, type:landmark_scale:3000, display=title Balloon manufacturers Ballooning Aircraft manufacturers of Spain Companies based in Catalonia Igualada Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1978 Spanish companies established in 1978

History

Customer types

Gallery of models

See also

References

External links