In the summer of 2019 Kubicek Balloons UK was contacted by Bloon a UK aerial marketing company and given a brief for a specially designed balloon in the shape of a grenade for the food nutrition brand Grenade.

The brief had the following criteria as part of the specifications.

- EASA type certified

- Lightweight for Worldwide travel

- Capable of carrying 4 people in flight

- Capable of carrying different Grenade logos in order to promote specific products as well as the general Grenade brand.

Once our design technicians confirmed we would be able to design the balloon to the specifications we pitched our proposal to Bloon alongside several companies doing the same.

After winning the contract Bloon selected our proposal of the Balloon based on the ability to carry out all the specifications set out by them and Grenade in the brief. October 2019 the contract was signed to commission a 120ft Grenade Balloon.

Several challenges were faced by the factory including the colour of the balloon which wasn’t on our lightweight fabric colour pallet and sample were given to Bloon and Grenade to see which colour suited them best. After they selected the colour our textile mill started to produce the fabric which will be used on the balloon over 3.5 square kilometers of fabric. Being the only manufacturer to produce our own fabric we had no issue in producing what we needed in the quality required.

The next phase was to cut the panels from the material of which there was over 500 to cut in order to produce the shape. Next came the sewing of the balloon which meant over 15km of thread being used.

The grenade logo is quite complex for a side of the balloon and it was decided that we would use Digital printing to achieve the exact likeness of the logo.

In late April the balloon was ready for its first test inflation and for the rigging to be added to the balloon to ensure every fitted and worked correctly before sending it to the client.

After the test inflation as with all special shape balloons we are required to do a Test flight in the balloon to comply with EASA regulation and to type certify the balloon. With everything complete we confirmed the balloon was ready for flight and delivered to the client as per the specifications.

The balloon started it’s UK tour in August 2020 after the first wave of the Covid-19 had passed and has successfully achieved great publicity for the Grenade brand on every flight.

As always Kubicek remain on standby to support the balloon and clients should they require.