August 25, 2014 Lincoln Daily News.com 2014 Art & Balloon Festival 13
Media Night
First balloon flight, an experience not to be missed
O
n a hot and humid August evening, Bobbie Snyder of Lincoln
Daily News experienced her first balloon ride.
The flight was with long-time
experienced local pilot Jim Ireland
in his balloon basket under the
‘Sun Glow’ canopy.
The wind and nearby storm
systems threatened to cancel the
flights, but after watching weather
patterns, the balloon meister in
charge declared it safe to fly.
Though Snyder was initially both
nervous and excited about the
experience, she said, “It was an
amazing experience just floating
away and watching the world go
by.”
Once the balloon envelope and all
the gear has been laid out, pilots
are cued to begin inflation. The
balloon launch field becomes noisy
as mobile generators are started
up to power giant fans. Watching
the crew prepare the balloon for
takeoff is like watching someone
blow up a large balloon with
inflator fans, which adds new
meaning to the concept of being
full of hot air. Once the balloon
was inflated, they attached it to the
baskets with carabiners, latches
that connect the lines between
basket and the envelope.
Propane flame is started, heating
the air and the balloon stands up.
The envelope is guided by an
anchor person holding tightly to the
rope attached to the envelope top.
Crew hold the basket down until
the pilot is cleared for take-off.
Once everything was secured and
the balloons were cleared to fly,
Jim Ireland, crew member Haydn
Zimmer, and passenger Bobbie
Snyder lifted off. The plan was
to go towards Lawndale, floating
anywhere from two to 12 miles,
and flying until they could find a
nice spot to land.
The crew in the chase vehicle
followed their route, watching
the wind patterns to know what
direction the balloon would go. As
the balloon floated around 1500
feet in the air over the cornfields
towards East Lincoln, the ride in
Sun Glow went smoothly, landing
around 5 miles away at the edge of
a nearby cornfield.
Jim Ireland and his wife Nancy
have lived in Lincoln for many
years and been involved with the
balloon festival since its beginning.
Jim started flying balloons in
1989, having been introduced to
ballooning by a friend. In addition
to the Lincoln Balloon Festival,
he has been involved in several
other balloon events throughout
the Midwest and has even been the
Albuquerque, New Mexico Balloon
festival, which has around 800
balloons.
Jim says every time is an
adventure. His longest flight ever,
took place in the winter when he
went 234 miles from Macomb,
Illinois to Bloomington, Indiana.
Jim says one of the things he enjoys
most about ballooning is taking
new people up and seeing the
Continued
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Story By Angela Reiners
Thursday
