Editing Ground crew (section)

===Non-controlled flight===
For those aircraft that do not possess any controls for changing the direction course of the aircraft, commonly known as [[hot-air balloon]]s, these require particularly unique ground crew.  Their roles include preparing the passenger basket (or gondola) with the correct amount of pressurized gas for the burners, testing of the burners, calculating the total mass of the [[Balloon (aeronautics)|balloon]] pilot and all passengers, calculating and applying appropriate [[ballast weight]] (fixed internal and releasable external).  Then the assembly of the passenger basket to its lift balloon envelope, laying out the balloon envelope fabric in a manner that facilitates efficient inflation.  Prior to launch, it will require personnel to 'waft' the balloon envelope during horizontal burner operation to ensure an efficient fill.  When the balloon envelope it itself airborne (but still not able to lift the basket with its pilot and any passengers), the ground crew will be required to hold ground tug ropes, to maintain the correct position of the balloon over the now vertically firing burner, and to prevent the basket from being uncontrollably dragged along the ground, until the balloon is totally full and capable of launch.

Once in flight, the hot air balloon ground crew undertakes a new task, that of driving one or more '[[chase vehicle]]s', initially to follow the progress and trajectory of the balloon in flight as best it can.  Most hot air balloons have zero aviation-specific navigation aids, though modern pilots will typically utilize satellite navigation features found on many [[smartphone]]s, along with the mobile voice telephony to maintain contact with the chase vehicle.  The final task of the chase vehicle will be to locate and attend the balloon landing site, to repatriate any passengers back to their respective location, and also to thoroughly deflate the balloon envelope, then correctly fold and stow away the envelope, along with the basket, and deliver all balloon equipment and its pilot back to their preferred location.