14 2014 Art & Balloon Festival Lincoln Daily News.com August 25, 2014
Thursday
excitement on their face. Since they
never know where they are going to
land, he says it is important to make
friends with landowners, who generously
let him land on their property.
Among the special memories he has
from piloting balloons are -- seeing a
wedding and an engagement take place
in a balloon; -- taking up a 90 year old
woman who sat on a stool during the
whole ride; -- and taking a boy with
severe handicaps on a tethered ride.
Ireland said training to be a pilot
included 10 hours flying with a licensed
pilot, a written test, and knowledge of
weather patterns, air regulations, and
safety and health aspects.
The crew includes Dave and Jayne
Zimmer, and Rick and Haydn Zimmer,
all of whom have crewed with him
for many years. Jayne said she likes
watching people go up and seeing a
mixture of both terror and excitement on
their faces.
Once the crew arrived at the landing site
to assist with the landing, they helped
the passengers disembark.
Bobbie was all smiles as she left the big
basket and her joy in taking the ride was
obvious.
As the crew wrapped up the balloon
envelope, sweat was dripping from
their brows due to both the heat and
their exertion. Watching them put the
balloon into bag was like watching
someone pack
up a huge
sleeping bag.
Amazingly,
it only took
about 25
minutes for
the crew
to deflate,
pack, and
load up the
equipment.
The hard
work and
dedication
of the flight
crew makes it all go very quickly.
Bobbie said that although she was very
nervous about the flight beforehand,
she was very glad that she had the
opportunity to experience her first
balloon ride.
