This weekend Phoenix will host the Arizona Balloon Classic where enthusiasts will gather to take to the skies. It’s not all joyrides, however, some of the participants will race their balloons.
You know those dreams where you’re flying? The houses look like dollhouses, the cars like toys. That’s what it’s like to fly in a hot air balloon. Only the dream is occasionally interrupted by the burner. Fed by a 15-gallon propane tank, the burner keeps the balloon and the 6-by-4 basket in the air.
“I need to land out here someplace, so we got to find someplace to get into," said pilot Rick Hunt.
We’re surveying the land as we fly over a neighborhood in west Phoenix.
“You feel how the balloon moves by going up and down," Hunt said. "That’s how we have to fly to get to a certain point.”
Up and down. Those are the two directions Hunt can control with the burner.
“No steering," he said. "We rotate the balloon."
But for the most part, we’re at the mercy of the wind.
We pick a big dirt field to land in, right in the middle of a quiet suburb, where we’re greeted by a local, Troy Andersen.
“I’m telling my wife, there’s a bunch of balloons, go outside and look," Andersen said. "And then I go ‘Wait, it’s landing at our house.'”
We land right where Hunt said we would. It’s this finesse that makes a good pilot. When Hunt competes in balloon competitions, he said the goal is to navigate to a specific GPS location. And the key is altitude.
“Different altitudes have different winds going different directions at different speeds," he said.
It’s a classic example of slow and steady wins the race, except all the contestants in a balloon race are the tortoise. It makes for a smooth ride that lets you take in the landscape from 1,200 feet in the air.
“You’re standing on a balcony overlooking the world," Hunt said. "Because there’s no sense of motion up here.”
