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People ask me, "Do you get to ride?" Sometimes. Mostly I drive. A hot-air balloon can't fly without a
crew, and a good crew is three or four people who don't mind getting up at four in the morning, don't mind
getting dirty, and don't mind taking orders from a nephew. Here is what we do.
Before the Flight
- Unload. The basket, the burner, the propane tanks, the envelope in its big bag and the fan all
come off the trailer. The basket alone takes two men and a little bad language.
- Lay out. The envelope gets pulled out of its bag and stretched flat on the ground, downwind of
the basket. If there's a rock or a cactus on the field, you find it now, not later.
- Cold inflation. Two people hold the mouth of the envelope open and the fan blows air in. One
person walks out to the top of the balloon and holds the crown line, a long rope tied to the top,
so it doesn't roll around.
- Hot inflation. The pilot fires the burner into the mouth, the air heats, and the balloon stands
up. Whoever is on the crown line leans back and lets it rise slowly. Everybody else hangs on to the basket
until the pilot says to let go.
During the Flight
- The chase. A balloon goes where the wind goes. The pilot can go up and down and find a different
wind at a different height, but he can't steer. So the crew follows in the truck, on whatever roads go
that way, with the trailer bouncing behind. This is my department.
- The radio. Dollie's department. The pilot tells us where he thinks he'll come down; we tell him
where the roads are, and where the power lines are.
- Getting permission. When it looks like he's going to land on somebody's place, one of us goes to
the door and asks. Most people say yes. Some people come out in their bathrobes and want a ride.
After the Flight
- Landing. We get there as fast as we can and grab the basket so it doesn't drag.
- Deflation. The pilot opens the top, the balloon lies down, and we walk along it pushing the air
out toward the mouth, then fold it long and skinny and stuff it back in the bag. This is the part where
you find out what the farmer was growing.
- Thank the landowner. Every time. We carry a bottle of something and a picture of the balloon for
them. If nobody thanks the landowners, pretty soon nobody can land anywhere.
- Champagne. For everyone, and a toast for a first-time passenger.
A Short Glossary
| Envelope |
The balloon itself, the big fabric part. Never call it "the balloon" around a pilot unless you
want a lecture. |
| Basket |
What you ride in. Ben's is wicker with leather around the top edge. Wicker
bends a little when you land, which is the point. |
| Burner |
The thing over your head that roars and makes the flame. It burns propane from the tanks in the basket.
Loud. Hot. Don't put your hat up there. |
| Crown line |
The rope tied to the top of the envelope, for holding it steady when it goes up and pulling it down
when it lands. |
| Chase |
Following the balloon on the ground. Also the truck, and the people in it: the chase crew. |
| Dawn Patrol |
The balloons that go up in the dark before everybody else, at the Fiesta. |
| Mass ascension |
When all the balloons at the Fiesta go up in the morning, wave after wave. |
| Zebra |
A launch official at the Fiesta, in a striped referee shirt. When the zebra points at you, you go. |
| The Albuquerque box |
On some mornings in Albuquerque the wind near the ground blows one way and the wind higher up blows the
other, so a pilot can go out low, come back high, and land near where he started. That's why the Fiesta is
there. When the box is working, the crew hardly has to drive at all, and I'm all for it. |
| Splash-and-dash |
Bringing the basket down just to touch a river or a lake and going back up. See Tuesday. |
If you ever get the chance to crew, at the Fiesta or anywhere else, take it. Wear gloves, bring a jacket,
and don't stand under the basket.
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Last updated Saturday, September 11, 1999
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