Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon

When I took my first balloon flight, the words from the song “Up, Up and Away” rang true. This song, written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by the 5th Dimension in 1967, tells the story of what it looks and feels like to ride in a hot air balloon. What it doesn’t tell you, is there is a lot of work and knowledge that goes into flying a balloon.

My first flight happened by accident. My husband and I had become friends with a balloon pilot and his wife. One day we went out to the airport to watch the balloon inflation. The pilot had a scheduled charter flight, but one person from the group dropped out. He asked me to fly, explaining that he needed me for ballast. I didn’t yet understand all the balloon terminology and logistics, but it looked like there was a lot involved in the launch. When we finally lifted off, it felt like I had entered a magical world.

The first thing I noticed was how motionless it felt in the air. The pilot explained that the balloon moves with the direction of the wind, so passengers feel no wind. It was very quiet as we glided over the landscape. The only noise was from the occasional blast of the balloon’s burner. It seemed like we were floating up to heaven and that I could touch the sky. The view from the basket was amazing.

Throughout the ride, the pilot maintained communication with his chase crew by radio. The ride lasted for about 45 minutes before we began descending. As the balloon neared the ground, the pilot told us to sightly bend our knees to cushion our bodies upon landing. The basket came down with a slight bounce, but the chase crew was there to catch us and stabilize the balloon.

We exited the balloon one at a time as the crew continued to hold the balloon to the ground. As I watched the crew get to work, I marveled at how well they worked together to pack up the balloon. Most of all, they seemed like they enjoyed doing it.

Once the work was done, we all went to breakfast and had the chance to get to know everyone. It was then that my husband and I decided to become a part of the chase crew. Wouldn’t you like to ride in a beautiful balloon?

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