[August 25, 2012]    

Friday morning, children at Carroll Catholic School had a special guest, Mike Hernandez, and his hot air balloon, Annie. Annie is a gigantic ladybug resting atop a lovely yellow sunflower. Hernandez and Annie are here all the way from New York state to serve as this year's special-shape balloon, sponsored by the city of Lincoln, at the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival.

Hernandez did a partial cold air inflation of Annie and allowed children to touch the balloon. He also talked to them about how he flies the balloon and what his crew does to help him get Annie inflated.

Pictures by Karen Hargis

In the photo above, Hernandez, pictured to the right, instructs crew members on what to do and what not to do while helping.

On the front of Capt. Mike's balloon is a sign that says "Experimental." When asked about it, he said it was because his specialty balloon was made in Brazil because of its shape. The FAA will not give them standard certificates or licenses. They are restricted from flying over congested areas (cities or towns) without a special waiver, which they have for this weekend.

 

Carroll Catholic students listened to Capt. Mike tell about Annie being
born in 2008 in Brazil. Their excitement was uncontrollable. One of them
said, "It's real!"

Every student was able to touch and feel the nylon balloon. Some wondered
if it would roll over them, while others were amazed at how big she was.

 

Capt. Mike told the children that he had a tradition of always giving Annie a kiss after each flight. Some wanted to give her a kiss for good luck this
weekend.

Capt. Mike told the kids they could get a student pilot certificate at age 14 and that they could actually get their student pilot license at 16. Maybe we will see this child become a pilot some day.