Steps for Getting Aerial Banner Ads into the Air

Have you ever been at a large gathering somewhere, like a sporting event or a beach, and seen an airplane fly by pulling an announcement or an advertisement of some type? These ads or messages are called airplane banners, and have proven to be an effective way to get a message out to a large group quickly.

So how do they get such a huge banner into the sky? If the banner were attached to the plane before it took off, this would cause two problems. First, the banner would drag across the runway and get damaged. Second, The drag of the huge banner would make it more difficult to get off the ground and this means the banner would drag even longer.

It takes a plan, good quality materials, and a skillful pilot to make this happen. First, the airplane takes off without the aerial banner, but with a device called a “grapnel hook.” This is attached to the tail of the plane but the hook end is hanging in the pilot’s window.

When the plane is safely off the ground, the pilot releases the hook and lets it fall so that now it is hanging below the plane, still attached to the tail. On the ground, the banner is laid out in an open area, attached to a lead pole in front. The lead pole is attached to a long rope called the pick up rope, and this, in turn, is attached to a loop of rope that is stretched between two poles about five feet off the ground.

Now the plane with the hook below flies low over the area where the loop of rope from the air banner is stretched between the poles. He is hoping to snag the loop with his hook, pulling the banner into the sky. At the moment he reaches the pick up area, he throttles the engine and pulls back on the stick, and the plane soars upward at a steep angle. The hook drags over the loop snagging it. This pulls the banner off the ground and into the sky without dragging it on the ground. And what if his hook misses? He will circle around and try again.

But how does the banner stay upright and not, like a kite, spiraling in the wind? First, the tail end of heavy billboards or banners has tiny parachutes that catch the wind and keep it straight. Then the bottom has weights that keep that edge closest to the ground. The letters are usually seven feet tall and the banner might be up to fifty letters long. So everything must be planned just right so that the drag is not too great or too little.

When he has completed his promised passes over the designated area, the pilot flies the banner back to the drop off place, comes in low, and, at the right place, remotely unhooks the banner so that it can float to the ground unharmed, ready for use again if this is appropriate.

Larger planes have been known to pull the banner into the air on takeoff without damaging it, dragging on the runway. However, this requires more speed and power than the single engine prop planes have. They continue to use the above method to get the banner into the sky.

All this may seem like a lot of trouble, but the result is worth the effort. Thousands will see the banner, both at the event and on the way to and from it. The message will get out and people will be influenced by the message. But not all aerial advertising services are the same. Some simply take an order and contract it out. Since 1996, AirSign has been leading the industry by taking personal care of their customers using the best pilots, sharpest looking planes, and providing accountability for their work through free GPS tracking. Give them a call and find out what they can do for you!