Hot air ballooning entails the pilot riding inside a wicker basket attached to a huge balloon made of rip-stop nylon. The balloon has a burner which is positioned between he wicker basket and the balloon. The flame of the burner heats the air inside the balloon and makes it rise. The degree to which the balloon air is heated depends on the atmospheric conditions, also on how high the pilot wants the balloon to go, and, of course, the fuel. To descend, the pilot allows the air to cool, and with the balloon becoming heavier than air, it loses height. Thus, by controlling the heat in the balloon, the pilot has complete control of the up-and-down movement of the balloon. Once the hot air balloon has taken off, the wind conditions decide its direction. But this does not mean that the pilot does not have control over its course. The different layers of air are usually moving in different directions and the pilot has to move up and down to find a layer that would take him or her in the desired direction. This is where the skill of the pilot comes into play, where, without physically steering the balloon, the pilot controls the direction of the balloon.