A Short history of Ballooning in Brno and Kubicek Balloons
Old times
Ales Kubíček and hot-air balloon - they are destined to each other...
Aviatik club
In the late 1970s there was only one balloon in Czechoslovakia and this was an import that was based in Prague. A group of local balloon enthusiasts met in Brno and determined that they would build their own balloon. Ales Kubíček was a founding member of what became the Brno Aviatik group and he took the lead in designing and building the clubs first balloon.
In 1983, after a process of trial and error (and a few adventures!) the first Czech hot-air balloon flew as part of the Aviatik club.
The club prospered and further successes followed.
1985 - The model hot-air airship flew.
1988 - the first Czech passenger balloon BB LIAZ flew - and it is still airworthy today!
Aerotechnik Kunovice
At the time that ballooning was starting in Brno the countries communist regime frowned on all private aviation activities, particularly activities such as ballooning which by its nature is difficult to supervise. In order to keep the sport alive, and stay on the survivable side of the law, Ales Kubíček moved the production of balloons and the flying of them under the supervision of Aerotechnik which was owned by the state military organization.
Here Ales Kubíček builds 30 balloons for the Eastern European market. This period came to a sudden end with the Velvet Revolution of 17th November 1989.
Kubíček s.r.o.
Shortly after the Velvet Revolution Ales Kubíček and his loyal team were to be found building balloons in a tenement at the end of Francouzskďż˝ Street. Kubíček sro. was born.
Life was difficult and although Brno had a reputation for making aviation products everything was in short supply and it was very difficult to obtain anything, particularly fabric. The practical solution was to build all the components in house.
In 1996 a factory was opened in Černá Hora, near Brno, to manufacture Polyester balloon fabric.
In 1998 and 1999 the Francouzská Street factory was extended - the new floor arized, especially for envelope production.
Followed the construction of new workshops for basket, burner and inflation fan production & soon it became tight...
Balóny Kubíček spol. s r.o.
With the start of the new millennium the old company was reorganised into a number separate companies under the overall control of the KUBÍČEK group. These companies are:
- BALÓNY KUBÍČEK spol. s r.o. - Production of hot-air balloons and airships
- REKLAMA KUBÍČEK spol. s r.o. - Production of cold-air and helium inflatables
- TEXTIL KUBÍČEK spol. s r.o. - Production of special fabrics and bouncy castles
- TECHNIKA KUBÍČEK spol. s r.o. - Special metal-works and building production
In 2001 the famous person of the ballooning world, Crispin Williams, took part of the Kubíček team and Kubíček Balloons were approved by JAR 21 certificate, confirming production of highest quality.
Very important term in company history is January 2005, when the aircraft production was moved from too small factory on Francouzská street to a very new building in eastern part of Brno. In historical factory nowadays stays the production of cold-air inflatables.
