University Daily Kansan
Thursday, September 13, 1979
5
Getting high ...
"Hey honey, look it. It's not air balloon!" A woman sewn out of her house and, shading her eyes, catches sight of the red, orange and yellow balloon that drifts竿 a few hundred feet above her head. Its cryowood colors glare brightly in the late morning.
"Hello down there," Alan Miller, the balloon's pilot, shouts. "Hello!"
unsurft squirts into the sun, one hand resting near a small brass plate on the basket of the balloon that sports the balloon's name. Sunrise Fantasy.
While aeromans in days past used champagne to help calm frightened peanuts, modern pilots use it to celebrate the end of another successful flight.
In many ways, the balloon ride is a fantasy ride. Only the wicker sides of the basket carry passengers from the open air.
When the propane burner that blasts hot air into the envelope of the balloon is not aflame, the rude is completely silent. No matter how much heat the rider is to incur, earthbound
But the art of ballooning, or overstentation as it is sometimes called, is more than just magical. The bird begins long before the arrival of a terrestrial bird straining like a tealbird to take flight.
FIRST MILLER checks the speed and direction of the wind. Too strong a wind
Story by Judy Woodburn
Photos by Jeff Hetier
can be a balloonist's nightmare because the can, which has no directional controls, flies at the wind of the wind. All a pilot can control is to choose each different wind currents. Miller said.
Then the body of the balloon, called the envelope, is inflated in an open area, from which a jetstream tangle it. A high-powered fan blows cold air into the envelope and the balloon billows to create a rainstorm.
The inside of the balloon looks like a futuristic cathedral. The orange light casts a stained-glass glow on Miller's face as he checks the缝留 for small holes or slots.
When the balloon is not quite fully inflated, Miller grips the controls of the burner and blasts an intense flame into the envelope.
SLOWLY THE balloon begins to rise from the ground. The basket, which has been on its side until now, gradually is pulled upright by the force of the balloon. Soon, the basket is resting lightly on the ground and it begins to blast a flam of heat at the air will送它 skewward.
Near the end of an hour's flight. Miller looks for a place to land that is away from power lines, highways and farmer's fields.
The noisy buzzing of cockrels in the grass becomes fainter and fainter as the balloon ascends and corn fields blur into a patchwork of varied colors.
"Ballooning is really a safe sport," Miller said, "because you can always land somewhere. We just try not come down in crops. Most farmers don't realize like that."
Before the three tanks of propane are close to being empty, Miller is scanning the landscape in search of a good place to land.
Miller catcher occasional oculips the chase car, a van whose driver keeps one eye on the balloon and follows by road as closely as possible.
"WHEN PEOPLE first started flying balloons, they often landed in rural areas. The possessions were afraid of them, and the balloons were thrown them before. They'd even jab the balloons with pitchforks. So the balloons started carrying champagne on board with them as a gift."
nat custom remains. In the van a cooler filled with champagne awaits eager passengers, pilot and crew.
The balloon's pear-shaped shadow tags along across the ground like a child's pullover as the balloon approaches the ground, until the balloon shines a shadow in a gentle, almost noseless landing.
A commercial as well as recreational pilot, Miller is licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to teach the art of ballooning and to give balloon rides.
Although the rides are expensive ($120 for a one-hour ride for two people) Miller said he had a long waiting list for balloon rides because the weather had been so rainy
HOT WEATHER also poses some problems for balloon pilots. Miller said it is the difference between the temperature inside the balloon and the air temperature outside the balloon that makes it rise. The hottest it is, the hotter it is to return to its original temperature the balloon will rise. In hot weather the pilot has to burn more fuel to keep the balloon aloft.
After about 50 minutes, Miller is already pulling on the cord that will release hot air from the balloon and begin its descent.
Vickie Miller helps hold up the balloon's skirt while Alan Miller shoots a flame from the balloon's propane burner into the balloon, filling it with hot air.
"...he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise." —William Blake