2015 Lincoln Balloon Festival LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM September 1, 2015 Page 25
been involved in ballooning since 1974. He stated that
after going to the national balloon races in Indianola,
Iowa and seeing all the beautiful balloons, he decided
he wanted to become a balloon pilot. He soon began
training for his hot air ballooning license in a banker
funded club. When Lincoln’s balloon festival started in
1989, Dowling got a new balloon and helped train the
first crews.
For Dowling, his wife, Marcia; and daughters Jennifer,
Julie, and Kelly, ballooning has often been a family
affair and they have even traveled to the festival in
Albuquerque, which is the largest one in the world. He
said that ballooning has been such a big part of their
lives that when friends would say to his daughters,
“Your dad has a balloon?” they would respond with
“Doesn’t everybody?”
Dowling has also had many memorable experiences
during his years of ballooning. He says that at least a
dozen couples have gotten engaged in his balloon. He
has also taken newly married couples up in his balloon
as they leave the church, since a balloon ride is more
unique than the traditional limo ride. In addition, he
has spread a man’s ashes during a balloon flight.
Another memorable moment Dowling shared is the
“long jump” flight he did one February, flying 86
miles from Lincoln to Charleston (6th place in the
United States). He called it a spur of the moment trip,
stating that he got the balloon up to 10,000 feet and
just kept going at about 80 mph until he ended up in
Charleston. Dowling explained that balloonists can go
up to 14,000 feet without oxygen, and he once went
up to 16,000 feet, but his passenger started to feel ill at
that altitude.
Other experiences are memorable for less exciting
reasons. For instance, one time, Dowling’s balloon
was stolen from his trailer in Iowa. After articles in
the newspapers there alerted residents to the theft,
someone found the balloon along the Des Moines
river. When Dowling got the balloon out of the river,
he discovered that it was still airworthy. Another time,
Dowling landed his balloon on top of the Walgreens in
Centralia, Illinois, and the fire department had to assist
in getting it down.
Dowling has also won some awards over the years. He
says that one time, there was a contest at a Mattoon
balloon
festival
where
pilots had
to complete
various
tasks such as
landing on a
sponsoring
business,
going up to a
high altitude
and hugging
or kissing a
passenger,
flying the
highest distance, throwing Irish Spring soap out the
basket, and flying crepe paper between two balloons
without breaking the paper. Dowling said that he and
balloonist Cindy Wooge of St. Louis won the prize for
flying the crepe paper between their balloons. Dowling
also scored in the top eight at last weekend’s balloon
festival in Centralia, Illinois.
Dowling says that he has hundreds of other stories
from his years of piloting a balloon. Having spent more
than half his life piloting balloons, it is a major part of
his life, one that appears to bring him great joy.
[Angela Reiners]
