ASHLAND — Hot air ballooning requires a certain persnickety attention to the weather.
How low is the cloud ceiling? How strong or weak does the wind blow, not just on the surface, but above the trees? What is the air temperature? How much daylight is left?
The answers to these questions serve as factors for a safe ride on a hot air balloon. And, on Thursday, there weren’t enough satisfactory answers for the balloon-meister to give the OK for flight.
So, much to Leah Gesouras’ and several other hopeful floaters’ chagrin, the flight was canceled.
Gesouras, a sales representative for Source Media Properties, voluntarily signed up for a ride during Thursday’s annual Ashland BalloonFest media flight.
She was excited to get up in the skies.
It’s not everyday you’re afforded time in a gondola while floating in the sky, totally and wholly dependent upon the whim of the winds.
Learning the particulars of hot air ballooning —like the fact there is no wheel or helm that gives pilots directional discretion, or the fact that you, as a passenger, are accompanied with an extremely flammable tank of propane while flying, and, here’s the kicker, there is no seatbelt or harness or really anything preventing you from plummeting to your death — often leads to hesitancy of first-time fliers.
Not Gesouras. Call it naïveté, or a wanton desire for an adrenaline rush. Whatever the motivation, Gesouras was ready.
Lucky for her, her assigned pilot, Steve Strine, promised another flight at another time.
He explained to her that his balloon rig, which he named “Sky High” with the help of his three children, carried two 15-gallon propane tanks, creating enough room for him and one other passenger. The gondola’s size, around 16 square-feet, is the perfect size for him at this point in his flying career as a “private pilot.”
“It basically means I cannot legally charge for rides,” he explained. To charge for rides, one must acquire a commercial license. He hopes to achieve that status by the end of the summer, he tells us.
“So yeah, I’ll take you up sometime soon,” he reassured a disappointed Gesouras.
Had they flown, or, more accurately, floated, his “chase crew” would have tracked them to wherever they ultimately landed, he explained.
“Most farmers around here are cool with us landing in their fields,” he said. His mother is part of the crew. It’s usually her job to knock on the landowner’s door to let them know the balloon, also known as a an envelope, has landed.
“We invite the kids out, let them take a picture and all that. That’s what it’s all about, just the fun of it,” Strine said.
The crew helps him pack the envelope and hoist the gondola back into his truck. Then they stop at a store to refill the propane tanks.
“It’s a process,” he said.
It’s also expensive. Strine said used rigs can cost anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000. New equipment can set you back up to $50,00 or $60,000.
You also need a way to haul it all. Strine uses a full-size truck with a lift attached to the tailgate. Other pilots use covered trailers attached to vans or trucks.
Strine, who works as an engine tech rep for aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, hopes acquiring his commercial license will help offset the expensive hobby. Rides can cost anywhere from $130 to $300. Commercial licenses also afford pilots the opportunity of flying sponsored banners and performing other promotional activities, which also create monetary options.
For now, Strine said it’s all about the fun.
“We have a blast, he said.
BalloonFest will continue on at Freer Field in Ashland on Friday and Saturday. For a more detailed schedule of daily events and activities, click here.
