Puma Press: April 2001 Top Story

It's 5:45 Easter morning. The sun is rising over the mountain, a crisp, cool breeze reaches out to you, and excitement builds. Ground crews begin safety checks and lay out the balloon (also known as envelope). They straighten guide ropes and arrange fans. Finally, it's all systems go. You are about to embark on a cruise with Hot Air Expeditions, Inc.

The crew switches on the fans and starts filling the envelope with air; a pilot takes his place in the basket, igniting propane burners to heat the air inside. Thirty minutes later, you step into a handcrafted wicker basket and prepare for lift off.

Dressed in a sweater and jacket to match the chill in the air, you start to ascend into the clouds, and the first blast of the burners leaves you dumfounded. Temperatures have risen to a comfortable 80Á90 degrees inside the basket, and you begin to ponder shedding your jacket. A breathtaking 360-degree picturesque view comes to light. Suddenly ,you realize you've drifted 4,600 feet above the launch site.

Passengers try to describe the feeling of ballooning above the earth. James and Deborah Antiobius, vacationing from Southfield, Michigan, say they felt as though they were "suspended in time, floating in the air."

An hour has passed and the pilot is explaining the landing instructions. Ears pop, as the balloon descends. You are closing in at a low elevation on a cement dam, inching closer and closer. Just as you are about to collide, the balloon ascends. Gasps turn to laughter as everyone realizes how far from the dam the balloon really was. A desert landscape all around, you search the earth below and see a coyote to the west, jack rabbits hopping across the desert floor and cattle grazing.

Before long, the balloon grazes the tips of desert trees, then bushes, and within minutes you touch down, take a quick, little bounce and the ground crew appears taking hold of the basket and ropes, another safe landing.

Hot Air Expeditions, Inc. treats first-time riders to the legendary ceremony that balloonists all over the world have been sharing for more than a century, the prayer: Balloonist's Prayer The winds have welcomed you with soft-ness. The sun has blessed you with his warm hands. You have flown so well and so high, that God has joined you in your laughter and set you gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

Then, almost magically, carpeting appears on the desert floor beneath your feet along with a lovely table complete with linens and china, a clue to what you are about to enjoy: Your Champagne Breakfast¤chilled champagne, orange juice, quiche lorraine, chocolate-filled croissants, seasonal fresh fruit and blue and yellow corn muffins with honey butter rosettes.

Finally, to prove your difference from ordinary mortals, you are inducted into the ballooning society and awarded the Certificate d'Ascension En Machine Aerostatique.

Crew Chief Tammy Raymond has been a ground crew member for five years. Raymond says no other job she has held has been so thrilling.

Captain Michael Carnevale has been piloting hot air balloons for 23 years. At the time he came into the business, there were a tremendous number of balloons and not enough pilots, Carnevale says.

"Once you get into ballooning, you're hooked ," Carnevale says.

The balloons used in commercial flights take 5000 yards of fabric. They are 240,000 cubic feet in size; require a pilot with ground crew of three-to-four people. A balloon burns approximately 15,000,000 Btu per hour. A complete commercial system costs $75,000. Envelopes last about three seasons, and baskets last through several envelopes.

Ground crew members from Captain Jim Peek's team of Hot Air Expeditions, Inc. say the company is facing increasing interest in ballooning. Crew Chief Raymond says, other ballooning companies go north and then to other states in summer months. Hot Air Expeditions, Inc. has enough business contracted to remain in Phoenix year round. Sunrise flights are available daily all year. Sunset flights are available November through March.

Hot Air Expeditions, Inc., is seeking college students to work as ground crew members for the summer. For more information contact: Margie or Randy Long at 480-502-6999 or 1-800-831-7610 between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.