Games Adults Play

Up, Up and Away... Hot Air Style
by Candice J. Wanner

Some of the various sports and activities I’ve covered in my column over the past months involve a lot of sweat and effort on the participant’s part. If getting out of bed in the morning is the most effort you want to spend during the day, then do I have the sport for you … hot air ballooning. I can’t think of anything I’ve ever done that can compare to the serenity and peacefulness that can be obtained gliding through the air while hanging suspended from a seven-story high, fantastically colored balloon. Although, I should tell you that it does take a few minutes to get acclimated to the fact that the only thing between you and the ground 3,000 feet below is a little wicker basket that comes only up to hip height. Well, at least on me. For you tall people, mid-thigh would be more accurate. But, once you ascertain that you’re not going to fall out unless you do something extremely stupid, you eventually relax and the real fun begins.

One recent Saturday morning, Heather Manock, Balloon1 (MODE’s Sales Coordinator and sometime-Photographer), and I met Don Dillon of Dillon Hot Air Balloon Service, Inc. in the parking lot of the Camp Hill Shopping Mall at the godawful time of 6:30a. With Dillon were his crew of 16 years — Andy Kline, who is a certified balloon pilot in his own right, and his wife, Jackie. After everyone arrived, we piled into Dillon’s chase van and drove off to a park in Plainfield where Dillon has permission to launch his balloon.

The wicker gondola (basket) is laid upon its side and then attached by cables to the balloon’s envelope, which is stretched out upon the ground. A very powerful fan is then used to blow air into the balloon’s envelope, the process of which is called cold-packing. After the balloon is full of air, the propane burners, of which there are two, are ignited. The burners use liquid propane and each are capable of putting out 15,000,000 BTUs each. As the air within the balloon warms, the envelope — which is made of a reinforced nylon fabric coated with a special substance that retains the air inside — starts to rise off of the ground. And what a sight that is to behold! The sun had just been peeking over the tops of the surrounding trees and sunbeams penetrated the balloon’s envelope illuminating the vibrant blues, reds, greens, and yellows of Dillon’s balloon. The envelope majestically rose to its full seven-story height, casting an enormous shadow across the surrounding landscape like some leviathan arising from the depths.

Once the envelope is upright and inflated, the first flight of passengers climbs in and, in no time at all, they sail off over the trees. It was at this point that the rest of us jumped into the chase vehicle and followed after, trying to keep the balloon in sight at all times. That can be a lot harder than it Balloon2 sounds since the balloon, once airborne, is totally at the mercy of the winds when it comes to direction and has no reason to follow the roads. So, it is the chase crew’s job to sort of second guess which direction they’re heading, read the maps as they go, and try to be in the right spot when the balloon does pass over a road or highway.

The pilot controls the balloon’s height through the amount of hot air he/she puts in the balloon through the burners and the amount released from the top of the envelope through a parachute-like valve. A good pilot will use the wind currents found at different heights to control his direction to some degree, but there is absolutely no guarantee where you’re going to end up. Which, to my mind, makes it all the more interesting.

After about an hour, Dillon brought the balloon in for a landing in the middle of a field to which the second group of passengers, Heather, myself, and a young lady named Jenny Smith, hiked. We helped to hold the balloon down while the crew exchanged propane bottles after which the first group of passengers climbed out and the three of us piled in. Then it was our turn to leave the "embrace of Mother Earth," as it were.

The balloon climbed steadily to about 3,200 feet where the whole of the Susquehanna Valley was laid out below us. Dillon stated that visibility was probably a good 25-30 miles, as we could see the whole way from Dillsburg to Hershey once we reached our cruising altitude. The whole area looked like one of those surveyor’s models, with teeny tiny houses and cars that crawled along the highways as if they were "Hot Wheels" models. People’s pools wink at you like emerald eyes and Balloon3 the hawks soar on a level with you, checking out this huge intruder into their domain.

Dillon, a former Airborne Ranger, stated he got into ballooning years ago when he took his family for a ride and was just amazed at the experience. He stated that he had thought, "here’s everything I got from parachuting and more. I’ve just gotta have one of these." And, thus, a balloon pilot was born. Balloon pilots must be certified with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and hold a special balloon aircraft pilot’s license. They can then, like Dillon, get their commercial pilot’s license that allows them to charge to take passengers, which requires additional schooling and testing.

Ballooning is a very expensive sport, considering that the average balloon ranges in price from $15,000 to $30,000. In addition, the envelopes are only good for 300-500 hours of flight time and then must be replaced. Dillon stated that "the average sport balloonist flies maybe 50 hours a year. I can fly a couple of hundred a year."

Dillon brought us low enough that the gondola actually brushed the tops of the trees and we were able to grab leaves from the branches. We had a bit of trouble finding an appropriate landing spot, since there was a contrary wind at about 50 feet that keep pushing us away from the landing places we had chosen. Eventually, however, we ended up in the backyard of Al Winey on Mt. Airy Road in Lewisberry. The landing was a bit tricky due to some inconveniently placed power lines and the fact that Al just had to have his house in the way, but Dillon managed to put us down neat as you please just 20 feet from Mr. Winey’s porch. The balloon was then dismantled and everyone had a glass of sparkling juice to celebrate our safe landings.

Dillon informed us that the first ballooners carried champagne with them to placate the landowners upon whose property they would end up landing upon. At the time, ballooning was not widespread and many of the landowners thought that they were evil spirits that were floating over their land. Especially since the early balloons were made of paper and the burners they used tended to set the envelope on fire. Peasants would rush the burning balloon and stab it with a pitchfork, thinking that they were killing a devil. To prevent this, the balloonist would share around the champagne and hard feelings were therefore alleviated.

Dillon and his crew are very careful to get the permission of the landowner before setting their balloon down. Most people are too happy, however, to let him use their property, especially since Dillon will many times then tether the balloon and take the neighborhood kids for a tether balloon ride as a ‘thank you’ to the property owner. In fact, Landing Site Al Winey’s wife stated that when she saw the balloon out her window, she thought "it was Publisher’s Clearing House coming to tell me I won!" (Sorry to disappoint you, Helen, but it was just your friendly, local balloon guys.)

If you’d like to give ballooning a try, you can contact Don Dillon at Dillon Hot Air Balloon Services, Inc. in Camp Hill at 761-6895. Flights are $150 a person and usually last an hour, although you will probably need to block out about four hours for set-up, break down, and being in the chase vehicle if there are two flights scheduled at that time. Don generally flies weekday evenings (except Monday and Friday) and also Saturday and Sunday mornings and evenings. The amount of passengers Don can accommodate varies depending upon the weight of the passengers, as there are guidelines as to how much weight the balloon can carry.

I highly recommend that you try ballooning. It’s a fantastic experience that you will reminisce about for years to come.